Love As Endless As The Sea
by WarrynSparklegem
Summary: Klance Mermaid AU Keith is injured and has no choice but to put up with the human Lance. There's a slight problem though; Keith's wary of humans and his brother hates them. While they learn to put up with each other, a brutal evil hatches its plan to rise up and take over Keith's home. Will Keith get home in time to save it? And will he accept Lance's help? DreamWorks own VLD
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is the story that I want to take up when I finish Nigrum Sanguis. As you can tell, it's going to be Klance again with a smidgeon of Shallura (another one of my favourite ships). This is also a mermaid AU, so it may resemble PFTones3482's story Cove at first (I would highly recommend it to all you Klance fans!). But I can assure you that the plot I have in mind is very different. Enjoy!**

* * *

There were too many voices saying too many things. The words did not register as he struggled to escape the net. He clawed and bit at the tough ropes, but they refused to break. He was dumped onto the deck of the humans' floating death trap. He looked up and saw a group of shadowy figures surround him, blocking the sharp rain from his exposed body. He hissed at them, hoping that his sharp teeth would frighten off these pathetic creatures – it made them more interested in him instead, so he began to flail around desperately. He slid around the deck as the vessel rocked from side to side violently, threatening to cast off her crew and cargo. The men stumbled and veered as they approached him, and even in the darkness, he could their maleficent grins of glee and greed.

 _What is to become of me?_ He thought fearfully. _Sea food? Dissection? Some freak show for humans to pay to ogle at?_

There was no clear answer. But there was one thing that he knew for sure; he would never see his home again! His brother would be left all alone, wondering what had happened to him. Why didn't he just stay at home today? Why didn't he just listen to his brother and stayed away from the surface?

Icy fear urged him to flop and buck even more with the aim of flinging himself over the edge and back into the ocean. However, gluttonous hands grabbed at his cage and dragged him further away from his freedom. He was turned over to his front roughly and large hands pressed down on his shoulders, back and arms to prevent him from snapping at his captors. His flailing limb was untangled from the net and held down tightly. He could feel others stroking it like a precious treasure, which made him feel disgusted and caused him to struggle harder. Tears were squeezed from his eyes – a warm contrast to the freezing rain lashing at his skin. He wanted to sob, to grieve for his stolen liberty, but fate seemed to be feeling merciful on this particular night.

The vessel suddenly shuddered like an earthquake and rapidly tipped to the side. The legged creatures all shrieked in terror and grasped around for anything to keep them steady. This allowed him to fall down to the vessel's edge. This was his only chance to escape before the boat righted itself, so, without thinking, he flung himself overboard with his upper half still tangled in the net.

He had hoped to have a free fall straight into the safety of the sea, but he was suddenly slammed back into reality. Or rather, he slammed himself into a set of protruding rocks. His head smacked off one with a muffled and sickening crack.

Pain blossomed all over! Everywhere hurt! His arms, his chest, his head, his…

He couldn't think where…

He couldn't think…

He couldn't…

Everything hurt. There was a high-pitched ringing in his ears. He was floating away.

Then everything went black.

* * *

Lance loved the rain.

He was currently sat on his house porch overlooking the beach. The storm was hurling rain and hail further out from the coast, so here there was only a light drizzle. He could see the raindrops diving to the ground through the beam that shone from the porch light.

Lance would be in a heap of trouble if his Mama caught him now. After all, it was around two in the morning and Mama was very strict about her children being in bed on time and not getting up before their alarms rang. To make matters worse, she also had the ears of a bat and picked up every little sound in the house while she slept. This was why it had taken Lance about half-an-hour to tip-toe along the hallway, down the stairs and out the door – all in the dark as well!

Back in the present, Lance pulled a large hand torch from his hoodie pocket and slowly swept it from side to side so that the beam stroked the beach like a lighthouse. He could see the rain falling, and Lance felt a surge of satisfaction and relaxation course through him. Many people found it weird that he loved the rain so much. He loved the pitter-patters as the rain hit the ground or the window. He loved splashing in puddles and feeling the cold drops trickle down his face and catch in his eyelashes. But most of all, Lance loved walking along the beach in the rain. This is because no one else would come to the beach during this time, so Lance was able to enjoy a nice stroll alone. This didn't mean that Lance liked being alone though. In fact, he hated it! But that was when it was completely silent. At least the sounds of the rain, wind and thunder accompanied him. It was enough for him to think about whatever he wanted to think about without being interrupted by one of his many siblings. He'd perch himself on the large rock near their house and overlook the grey sea and moody sky with only an umbrella to shelter him from the clouds' tears.

Lance now noticed that his light was lingering on his perch rock. He was about to move it again when he spotted a lump next to the rock. Lance knows this beach like the back of his hand, and he knows that there isn't supposed to be a lump in that space.

Slowly and warily, Lance stood up and took small steps towards the foreign object. The sand was lumpy and damp beneath his bare feet. His breath came out in misty puffs in front of his face, but they did not distract his gaze from the strange lump. Upon closer inspection, he saw pale skin and raven hair wrapped in orange rope.

"Dios mío!" Lance exclaimed.

Lance leapt forwards like a lion and laid a hand on the man's shoulder. He gasped when he realised that the man was shirtless and felt how freezing his skin was. The strange man may as well have been made from ice! Lance began patting the man in search of injuries. After feeling his head, his hand came away red, but it washed away quickly in the rain. He found more red near the man's waist and followed it down towards his-

Wait…

 _This guy…he doesn't have any legs._

Lance shined the light further down to reveal a single limb that began from the man's waist. It was longer than a human's leg and had a solid shine to it. The red didn't seem to be blood, but rather, scales. In fact, Lance was pretty sure that it resembled a fish's tail!

But that was preposterous! Because if this was true, then that means that he's found…

Lance reeled back slightly in shocking awareness. This was a mermaid! Or merman? The creature before him certainly resembled a man with his flat chest and firm muscles.

 _What should I do?_ Lance thought. _He's injured. I can't just leave him! But I can't call anyone either. Who knows what would happen to him?_

After a little bit of debating and planning, Lance concluded that his best course of action was to take the merperson to the rockpools at the end of the beach and hide him in the cave. He could then better assess the injuries. With a huff, Lance switched around his flashlight for a headlight (he always kept it in his pocket, just in case) and knelt down in the sand. He carefully untangled the merperson from the net and tossed it to the side. He then slid one arm beneath the shoulders and another under the tail. He found this difficult because the tail was extremely slippery, but he eventually managed to get a firm grip on it. He heaved the person up and groaned a bit in exertion. The top half was fine, but the tail was quite heavy! Luckily, Lance's excessive swimming had paid off.

Lance slowly and carefully trudged down the beach towards the caves. He remained wary of rocks glass when he reached the cavern. He squatted slightly to prevent himself from banging his head and shuffled further into the cave. When he came to the back wall, he settled the merperson down on the rock. From what he could see, the only injuries he had were a cut on his brow and a few smaller bruises and scratches on his abdomen. He then lifted the tail up to look around and almost dropped it when he saw a large cut in the area where the thigh would normally be. It bled slowly, but it was wide and could allow an infection to settle if left untreated.

As Lance turned to go fetch the med-kit from his kitchen, he strongly hoped that the merperson wouldn't wake up and leave. He sprinted down the beach and managed to reach his porch in under a minute. He carefully turned the doorknob and reached a hand to grab the green box from next to the doorway. He also gently opened the draw in the counter underneath and took out a roll of clingfilm. He then closed the door with similar care and sprinted back down the beach to the cave. He was relieved to find that the merperson hadn't moved an inch.

Lance started off by bandaging the head wound. The raven hair was long – probably to his shoulders – and matted. While he wrapped the cut, he took time to inspect merperson's face. The face was definitely a male's; the cheeks and jaw did not hold the curves of a female's. He also looked young as well – at least by human standards, he seemed to be about Lance's age. His ears were also much larger than a human's. It almost looked like a butterfly's wing. Red skin was stretched thinly over the structure. It looked kind of pretty. He also observed cuts on the sides of his neck, but they weren't bleeding. Lance knew that these were gills from all the times when he went fishing.

Once Lance tied off the bandage, he moved down towards the wound on the tail. The bleeding had stopped now. Lance uncapped the bottle of clean water and wet a gauze with it. He then delicately dabbed the wound with it. Despite his gentle actions, the merman moaned at the contact. Lance startled slightly at the sound and looked at the face again. The eyes remained closed, so Lance continued to clean the wound. When he couldn't see any small pieces of rock or sand in the wound, he took out the alcohol from the kit and wet the gauze with it. Internally, he prayed that merpeople were not allergic to alcohol and pressed it against the wound to disinfect it.

This time, the merman hissed, and his body tensed. When his head fell back to the ground, his eyelids began to blink open. Lance held his breath and awaited the merman's reaction. When violet eyes landed on the tanned human, the merman spat threateningly and thrashed away. Lance tumbled backwards and raised his hands up as if surrendering. The merman bared his sharp canines and narrowed his eyes in hatred and distrust.

"Woah! Easy there!" Lance tried to calm the merman. "I wasn't trying to hurt you! I just want to help!"

The merman just snarled.

"All humans just want to hurt." He seethed. "Why should you be any different? All humans are pathetic and stupid."

"Ouch!" Lance groaned. "I save you and you thank me by insulting me? I feel kind of hurt!"

"I don't care!" The merman snapped. "Now get out of my way before I rip your throat out!"

"So you'll rip my throat out and jump into the water. Then what?" Lance asked. "You've injured your tail. I don't think you'll be swimming anywhere any time soon."

The merman glanced down at the wound. His eyes widened in surprise when he realised the extent of the damage. He looked afraid too. Not that Lance could blame him – he was trapped after all. The merman looked back up at the human angrily.

"I don't care!" He snarled. "I'll still make it back home! And if you ever want to go back to yours, you'll let me pass immediately!"

Any other human would have just cowered away from the intimidating creature and left it be. But not Lance. No, Lance was the oldest of seven children. He was used to having to put his foot down and say, 'not happening'. Lance crossed his arms determinedly and stared long and hard at the merman.

"Here's what's going to happen." Lance said calmly and sternly. "You are going to sit still and let me finish treating your wound. Then you're going stay here and rest for as long as you need to."

"Why the Hell should I listen to you?" The merman yelled aggressively. Honestly! Who did this human think he was? How dare he tell him what to do?

Keith launched himself forwards to incapacitate the foolish human and leap into the water, but his tail stung sharply at his movements and he fell to the ground with a pathetic whine. He waited for the human to laugh at him, but none came. Instead, he felt two soft hands pick him up gently and lay him up against the wall. The human was now looking at him with pity and a hint of smugness.

"I told you!" He said triumphantly. "Now, just sit still and let me finish."

"And why should I trust you?" The merman asked again.

Lance looked at the merman in the eye so that he could see that he was telling the truth.

"I found you on the beach." He said. "I could have easily left you there for someone else to find. I could have called marine biologists to pick you up. Of course, they would have helped you. But you know as well as I that they would have kept you. So instead, I carried you down the beach to hide you in these caves. I'm using my family's med-kit to treat you and I have ran back and forth in the rain to tend to you. I've already done your head. I can assure you that I have no intentions of telling anyone about you. Besides, everyone would think that I'm either insane or exaggerating another one of my stories."

The merman reached up to feel the bandage on his head. He relaxed a bit but remained on guard. So what if this human hadn't given him up to scientists? There was no guarantee that the human would keep his promise. However, it would seem that he had no choice but to trust this human for the time being.

"Fine." He unwillingly conceded. "Just get it over with!"

He crossed his arms and turned away as the human shuffled closer and laid his tail in his lap. The merman shuddered slightly when he felt the human's bare skin on his scales. It was rather soft and squishy. He snuck a small glance downwards and saw some weird things poking out from underneath the human's crossed legs. They wiggled slightly as the human worked. He hoped that his staring would remain unnoticed.

"You seem rather interested in my toes." Lance observed.

The merman jumped and blushed.

"Well, pardon me human, but I've never seen one of your kind this close before!" He defended himself indignantly. He yelped again when the human brought the stinging liquid back to his wound.

"Sorry." Lance muttered. "And my name's Lance, by the way."

One of the merman's ears twitched.

"Lance." He tested the name. "What an odd name."

"Are you saying that your name is better?" Lance teased.

The merman fell silent. Clearly, he didn't want to reveal his name.

"Oh, come one!" Lance all but begged him. "You're gonna be stuck with me for a while, and I don't want to have to keep on referring to you as 'the merman'."

The merman sighed, but remained silent.

"Alright then." Lance said as he lifted the tail with a knee in order to wrap the bandage around the wound. "If you won't tell me your name, then I'll just have to guess. Hmm…George?"

The merman just stared at him.

"Okay then, not George. Sebastian?"

Silence again.

"Kaltnecker? Nemo? Barry? Nelson? Quincy? Sherman? Alfred? Anderson? Montgomery?"

"Just stop!" The merman suddenly exploded. "My name's Keith, alright? Just stop guessing, please!"

Keith panted and fell back against the wall, rubbing both hands over his face.

"Keith, huh?" Lance repeated. "That's a nice name."

Keith peeked at Lance from behind his hands, but said nothing. The two sat in silence. Once Lance had tied off the other bandage, he reached for the cling film and wrapped it around the tail's bandage.

"What's that for?" Keith asked him quietly.

"When one of my brothers broke his ankle," Lance replied. "We would wrap cling film over his bandage so that he could go into the sea without it getting wet. I'm assuming that you can't stay out of the water the whole time you're recovering."

Now that Lance mentioned it, Keith could feel that his gills were a little sticky against his neck. He had probably about an hour before he needed to go back underwater.

"The rockpools here are quite shallow." Lance continued. "You should be able to lay down and sit up in them easily."

Lance tore off the roll of clingfilm and pressed the edge down. He admired his handiwork and felt a small sense of pride at how neat it all looked!

"Hey," Keith said. "Can I go in the water now?"

Lance felt like reprobating the merman for his lack of manners, but decided against it. After all, Keith was still nervous and afraid. Manners were the last thing on his mind. Alternatively, Lance bent down and picked Keith up again. Keith yelled in surprise as he was lifted up and wrapped his arms around Lance's neck to keep him from falling. Lance gently lowered Keith into the rockpool.

"The way back to the sea is blocked by too many rocks." Lance warned him when the merman was settled. "You wouldn't be able to climb over all of the rocks. I know that you don't like it, but you'll have to stay here until you're healed."

Keith looked away and pouted angrily, but did not argue. He was right. His attention was instantaneously grasped when a weird moan came from the human's mouth. His mouth opened wide and he exhaled loudly. Lance caught the merman looking at him, his head tilted and his ear twitching again. Lance mused that Keith's ear twitched whenever he was curious.

"That was a yawn." Lance answered the silent question. "It's something humans do when they're tired. I'm gonna head back to sleep now. What do you eat?"

"Raw fish." Keith replied. "Seaweed. Mussels."

"I'll bring some fish for you tomorrow." Lance said as he turned away. "I'll see you in the morning Keith."

Keith didn't reply. He watched the human's retreating back until he was gone from view. Then Keith curled up, feeling sleep beckoning him as well. He laid down beneath the water and snuggled into the sand. Just before he fell asleep, he briefly thought about his brother. Was he okay?

"I'll be home soon Kashi." Keith mumbled tiredly.

Then he succumbed to sleep.

* * *

Princess Allura was annoyed.

Her eyes followed her Captain and Champion, who swam back and forth across the grand hall. His hands were clasped tightly behind his back as his black tail moved endlessly. His eyes were trained on the floor, but they were also distant. He was worried. No, more than worried. He was anxious and on the border of a panic attack. Allura's fingers tapped the arm of her throne to try and keep her patient, but eventually, she felt to agitated. She slammed her fist down and rose from her throne yelling: "Shiro, that's enough!"

Shiro startled slightly and his eyes shot to the Princess. His anxious swimming continued.

"Sorry Allura." Shiro apologised. "It's just that Keith has never stayed out this late! What if something has happened to him? What if he's been eaten by a shark or gotten lost?"

He suddenly froze and his eyes widened in horror.

"Oh God! What if he's been taken by humans!?"

Allura sighed again. This time, it was filled with sympathy. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was worried too. Keith was like a younger brother to her as well and it hurt to see Shiro so distraught.

"I'm sure Keith is fine." She assured him, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. "If he's not back by morning, then I will send a search party out for him. But you've got to let up on him a little! He's not a child anymore, and he's certainly not defenceless."

"I know." Shiro exhaled. "But that doesn't mean he's completely safe from everything! I promised myself that I would keep him safe. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he got hurt!"

Allura was going to kill Keith when he got back. He knows how easily worried Shiro is!

"He'll come back Takashi." Allura said assertively. "And when he does, you can give him a long lecture about staying out past curfew."

Shiro took a few long and deep breaths. When he turned to the Princess, he appeared to be a bit more relaxed.

"You're right Princess," He said. "As usual."

From behind one of the pillars, a dark figure grinned evilly. This was the moment they had been waiting for! Without hesitation, they darted away to give their Master the news.

 **Welp, that's your preview! So, what did you all think? Let me know! This is a story idea that I have been mulling over for quite a while. I've never written about mermaids before, so this is going to be very interesting!**

 **Until after Nigrum Sanguis my wonderful readers!**

 **WarrynSparklegem**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's Chapter Two, after so long! My updates are going to become irregular since I have AS exams coming up in less than a month! X_X Writing helps me to relax though, so work on this fic will still be ongoing – it'll just be slower! :D**

* * *

 _Lance was stretched out on his surfboard like a cat. The board rocked back and forth gently with the waves. The sky was bright blue and there were no signs of any white, wispy invaders. The Sun glared down onto the surface of the sapphire water which sparkled like a million gems. The water sloshed quietly around Lance, gradually lulling him into a state of perfect relaxation and inner-peace. Every breath he took was deep, long and loud. In Lance's opinion, things could not have been more perfect._

 _That was until he heard a something slapping the water nearby, coaxing some splashing sounds from the sea. Lance ignored them at first, but when droplets of water began to hit his face, he couldn't remain oblivious any longer. He sat up, irritation spilling out of his body, and looked around for the annoying and ignorant pest who had decided that the best thing they could do with their day is disrupt his peaceful rest!_

 _What he found though was not what he expected…_

 _Lance found himself staring at a blood-red fishtail, but it was far too large to belong to any fish he knew of. It was flicking water towards him. Once Lance had sat up fully, the tail whipped back into the water and the feeling of wet skin made itself suddenly known on his arm. Lance spun around to face pale skin and raven hair. Inhuman violet eyes stared into him so deeply that he couldn't help but feel like his entire soul was exposed to this being. The stranger leant forwards, tilting his head from side to side. Soon enough, their noses were almost touching._

Oh…he's such a beautiful creature… _Lance thought, completely awestruck by the stranger._

 _But just as he opened his mouth to speak, the creature widened its jaws to reveal a sharp set of canines that dripped with saliva. A snarl rumbled from the back of its throat as it leapt forward like a spider and attacked his face! Everything went pitch black and he was surrounded by a ringing noise that got louder and louder and-_

A soft, rough, wet material dragged up and down Lance's cheek. Two blunt weights dug painfully into his chest; bruises would surely form. Lance moaned, sleep still clouding his mind, and raised an arm to push away his oppressor.

"Blue, stahp, please!" Lance mumbled tiredly.

His palm encountered a furry head and he gently shoved it away. When his eyes fluttered open, he saw two wide bark-brown eyes, surrounded by light fur, staring at him. With her tongue hanging out, ears perked up and tail wagging by the dozen, Blue barked a happy 'good morning' to her boy.

"Yeah, yeah, good morning to you too." Lance grumbled fondly.

Blue barked once and jumped onto the floor. She ran around in circles a couple of times before sitting on the floor and staring at her boy. She lifted a foot and scratched behind her ear. Her focus landed once again on her human and she began to wag her tail again. Lance, meanwhile, flung his hand to his bedside table, to hit the button on his alarm clock (the ringing was just completely _obnoxious_ ). He then heaved himself into a sitting position.

Just to be clear, 'I-just-woke-up Lance' is very different to 'what-you-see-everyday Lance'. Current Lance's hair was not tidy and sleek; it reached out into a million different directions as if he had been shocked in his sleep. Sleep crusted around his half-open eyes and a dribble of drool had dried in the corner of his mouth.

With a huge stretch and wide yawn, Lance swung his feet onto the small, plush rug. He giggled slightly as it tickled the bottoms of his feet. Blue yapped and placed her paws on Lance's knees.

"Okay, okay, okay." Lance yawned as he stood up. "I'll take you out after breakfast."

There was something else he needed to do as well. What was it?

…

Oh well. It'd probably hit him later.

Lance swiftly went about his daily routine of showering, moisturising, combing and dressing. The entire process took around a whole hour, by which time Blue had resorted to laying down on the rug and watching Lance bustle back and forth. Lance also packed his rucksack with textbooks and Blue's favourite ball for their time on the beach.

"Come on girl!" Lance beckoned Blue, who followed him into the hallway.

Lance's footsteps were heavy as he thumped along the hallway and down the stairs.

"Lance!" Vanessa McLain scolded her eldest child from the kitchen. "I have told you once, I have told you a thousand times! Don't stomp down the stairs!"

"Lo siento Mama." Lance mumbled tiredly. He sniffed the delicious aroma in the air and instantly woke up. "Is that your heavenly salmon I smell?"

"Flattery rarely gets you anywhere with me Lance." Mama joked from her position at the sink. "Now hurry up and eat your breakfast. The salmon needs to be eaten today; that's the only reason I got a discount for it at the store."

Lance entered the kitchen to find all six of his younger siblings sat at the table. Sofia and Juliana had already drowned their food in sickening amounts of jam. David watched them with utter disgust while he spread a moderate amount of jam onto his toast. Felipe and Fernanda were squabbling over who should get the last portion of orange juice; this was up until Mariana took the jug and poured the juice for herself. The entire table was a warzone and Lance was missing out!

"Hey! Save some for me!" Lance yelped as he slid into his own seat and scooped a heap of salmon onto his plate.

Blue trotted off towards her own bowl next to Ana's pudgy cat Kaltenecker. Mariana had found the young cat washed up on the shore a month ago. A visit to the vets had revealed that the cat was pregnant with two kittens. Thankfully, her kittens seemed to be unharmed. She had no microchip or collar, so it was assumed that she was a stray. It didn't take much convincing for Vanessa to allow her eldest daughter to keep the cat; after all, they had adopted Blue just under a year ago. Both animals settled into the McLain household rather nicely.

Lance took a bite of his salmon and sighed in pure bliss. Mama had added a splash of lemon juice to add that subtle yet explosive tang to it. Keith would love this!

Keith…

Keith…

Keith!

Lance's eyes widened as he remembered the Merman still hidden in the cave. He had promised Keith fish for his breakfast. Lance glanced down at his pile of salmon and decided that it should be enough for the hungry Merman. As discreetly as he could, he tipped the fish into an open napkin – not that it mattered. Mama was still busy at the sink and his siblings were all enraptured by their own food. The only one who noticed was Blue, who had finished her breakfast and was sat next to her master, eagerly waiting for him to finish his. Lance rolled up the napkin and slipped it into his rucksack before chugging down his milk and grabbing a handful of grapes.

"Come on Blue!" Lance called as he ran to the door before he could be roped into any chores. The Labrador Retriever followed behind excitedly. He heard Mama yell something about being back before sunset, to which he replied: "Si Mama!"

Blue dashed ahead of Lance, sand flying up behind her paws as she leapt towards the water's edge and back towards Lance. She repeated this path as Lance strolled along the beach towards the cave and rock pools. The sand was firm beneath his shoes, opposed to their usual softness and volatility. The rocks were still slippery, but his rubber treads provided enough friction to save him from an impromptu soaking. Blue padded closely behind. She trusted her human completely.

Lance carefully made his way towards the back of the cave. Sunlight streamed in from a couple of holes in the cave roof, making his journey much easier than it had been the previous night. He didn't spot any black hair peeking out of the pool where he'd left the Merman. The Cuban leaned in cautiously and peeked in.

Keith was laid at the bottom with one hand beneath his head and the other grasping at the sand. His tail was curled up to his chest and his sloppy medical treatments seemed to have held. Lance's eyes swept over Keith's body quickly, but they lingered on the face a little longer. The Merman's features were completely relaxed. There was no pain or sadness. There wasn't any smile of joy either, but he at least looked relaxed.

That was until blue spotted him and began to bark loudly. Lance yelped and wrapped his arms around his dog to pull her back. He jumped and shrieked when a hand wrapped around his ankle and pulled. Lance landed on his rump painfully.

"Ow!" Lance groaned. He glared at Keith, who was panting with wide eyes and had a hand gripping onto the human's ankle tightly. "What the Heck dude?"

"That _thing_ startled me!" Keith snarled, glowering sharply at Blue. The dog was sat next to Lance, looking at Keith with curious and playful eyes. Her tongue was hanging out as she panted excitedly.

"This _thing_ is my dog," Lance defended his girl. "And her name is Blue!"

"She is very loud." Keith grumbled as he released Lance's foot at last.

"She was just excited to see you." Lance explained. "She's never seen a Merman before."

"I've never seen a dog before, but you don't hear me making loud mouth sounds!" Keith retorted hotly.

Lance simmered but managed to calm down with a deep breath. He crossed his legs and pulled his rucksack from his back. Blue laid down to observe how the scene would play out.

"I've got you breakfast." Lance announced.

He pulled the napkin from his bag and noticed how Keith's nostrils immediately flared. His ears also perked up and his eyes widened. And…was that droll dribbling from his mouth?

"I hope you like salmon!"

Lance unrolled the napkin to reveal his offerings. Keith grabbed one piece and began tearing into it like a feral animal. Lance flinched back as he remembered his dream from that morning. He told himself that he was being silly! Keith wouldn't eat him! Would he?

"Hey, Keith?" Lance asked hesitantly. "Do Merpeople eat humans?"

Keith paused his chewing and stared at Lance incredulously.

"I'll take that as a no."

"Humans have too many slimy and disgusting parts." Keith explained as if they were discussing the weather. "This salmon isn't half bad though."

"Good." Lance chuckled. "If you insulted my Mama's cooking, I would have been realmente enojado."

Keith stared at Lance confused but continued eating. The silence became awkward quickly, so Lance decided to engage in conversation.

"So…do you have any family where you come from?" Lance asked.

Keith's eating paused as his expression fell. Lance started to worry that he had just asked a bad question and scrambled to make up for his mistake.

"Sorry!" He stuttered. "Was that a bad question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to!"

"It's not that." Keith said. "I have an older brother; Shiro. He must be really worried about me right now. He worries too much."

"Well, seeing as you ended up washed up onto the shore with an injured tail, I'd say he has every right to worry about you." Lance mused.

Keith snarled at Lance. He clearly did _not_ like what Lance was insinuating.

"I-I'm sure you're very able to look after yourself!" Lance hurriedly amended. "I just understand where he's coming from! I have six younger siblings after all and they're always wandering off or getting into trouble. Sometimes I'll just take my eyes off one of them for a second to attend to one of the others and I'll look back to find that they've vanished!"

Keith observed the human curiously as he quickly went from frantic to relaxed in just the space of a minute.

"I end up racing all over trying to find where they've gone." Lance continues. "It doesn't matter so much now though. Mariana and the twins are old enough to venture around town on their own and David doesn't really go outside much unless he's going to school or the library. And Sofia and Juli don't wander off really."

"They sound like a lot to handle." Keith commented awkwardly.

"Yeah, they are." Lance replied, pleased that he had coaxed Keith into opening up a bit more. "They may annoy me most of the time, but really, I love them all to bits."

"You could just leave them to run rampant." Keith suggested.

"And cause my Mama even more stress?" Lance gasped with mock offence. "No way! It's bad enough that she had to practically raise all of us alone! I can't leave her to handle everyone on her own."

Keith blinked and tilted his head.

"You're a lot like Shiro." He said. "After Mum and Dad were killed by humans years ago, Shiro raised me."

"Oh." Lance breathed with a fallen expression. "I'm sorry."

"I was really young when they died." Keith replied. "I don't remember them. But Shiro refused to take an eye off me throughout my entire childhood! Ever since he became Captain of the Royal Guard, he's been sending patrols after me whenever I don't arrive home on time."

Keith looked thoughtful for a while. His eyes sparkled as thoughts and plans zoomed around behind them.

"If you could get me to them, then they could take me back home!" Keith exclaimed suddenly. "You just have to find a way to attract the patrols here and then I can go home!"

"That's a great plan!" Lance smiled. The smile only lasted a few seconds though. "But you'll have to wait a few days first though. You can't swim anywhere with that tail, even with help!"

Keith frowned sadly. He wanted to object, but even he had to admit the truth to himself. It he tried swimming home without rest, he could cause permanent damage to his tail.

"Okay." He sighed defeated. "But I still need to find a way to let Shiro know I'm alright."

"Well, can Merpeople talk to fish?" Lance asked.

"We eat fish." Keith said bluntly.

"I know! But could you talk to them if you wanted to?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll just catch a fish and you can give them a message for your brother!" Lance announced magnificently.

"That's a horrible idea." Keith snorted.

"Have you got a better one?"

Silence.

"Fine then." Keith sighed. "Go catch a fish."

Keith leaned onto the side of his pool. Lance noticed how sulky he looked.

"I could carry you outside though." Lance suggested. You can sit in the shallow water while I catch one."

Keith considered the idea for a while. He did miss the outdoors…

"Okay." Keith agreed.

Gradually, Lance helped Keith onto the rocks and then lifted the Merman into his arms. Keith wobbled slightly, and his arms instantly wrapped around Lance's neck. Lance managed to supress a blush and balanced himself. He then carried Keith outside with Blue bounding ahead of them. Keith flinched slightly at the sudden brightness of the day, but he sighed heavenly at being able to see the sky again. Lance walked him over to one of the shallow pools closer to the sea so that he could look out over the horizon.

"Better?" Lance asked.

"Yeah." Keith nodded. Then, a little sheepishly, he added: "Thanks."

Lance blinked in surprise but smiled all the same.

"No problem buddy." He then turned to Blue. "Blue, search!"

Blue yapped and ran into the water, sniffing loudly. As she bounded around, Lance sat on the rocks next to Keith and pulled out one of his textbooks. He toed off his sock and shoes as well. Keith laid his head on his arms and stared out over the water dreamily. This peaceful setup lasted for about an hour until Blue bounded back over and pointed at a specific spot with her snout.

"You found something?" Lance asked quietly.

Lance reached into his bag and pulled out a net while Keith raised his head from his arms. Lance slowly slid into the water and crept over to the area towards which Blue was still pointing. Lance knelt down and paused. Blue's nose moved slightly as the creature moved as well. As soon as her nose stilled, Lance threw himself down and pulled the net around Blue's find. He very quickly moved over towards Keith's pool and placed the net into the water.

A red seahorse struggled to escape from the net. Keith gently unwound the creature from his prison and gasped when he saw the seahorse completely.

"Red?" He breathed.

Red clicked happily as he spun in circles. Keith laughed happily and stroked Red.

"You know them?" Lance asked.

"Red's my companion." Keith replied, his eyes never leaving the seahorse. "I rarely go anywhere without him!"

Keith then began to make clicking noises. Lance watched quietly as Keith conversed with the seahorse. Lance watched and listened with fascination as Keith and Red excitedly exchanged clicks. The longer the conversation continued on for, the more bored and confused Lance felt. His head began to tilt to the side until it was inclined completely at ninety degrees. One eyebrow disappeared into his hairline while his mouth thinned with irritation. Blue, on the other hand, remained sat on the rocks watching the two aquatic creatures. She was greatly amused and entertained by the clicks, even though she had no idea what was going on.

"Uh…" Lance groaned after a few minutes. "Hey, guys? Can you tell the human what's going on? Funnily enough, I never learned how to speak Seahorse."

Red and Keith both looked at Lance, one with wide and neutral eyes, the other with annoyance and a growl.

"I will as soon as I have finished." The Merman ground out through clenched teeth.

He then turned back to Red and continued their conversation from where they finished before Lance's untimely interruption. They clicked on for about ten minutes, by which time Lance believed that they were deliberately drawing out their discussion to annoy him – and it was working too! Eventually, Keith turned to Lance with a relieved smile on his face.

"Red's going to tell Shiro where I am." Keith explained. "He'll tell him that I'll be staying until I'm recovered enough to swim home."

"Good." Lance deadpanned, still annoyed that he had been ignored for so long. He then glanced down and grimaced guiltily. "I didn't hurt him when I caught him, did I?"

"No." Keith replied. "But he's still really mad at you."

Red clicked angrily in agreement.

"Okay, I'm sorry dude!" Lance hissed defensively. "Chill!"

Keith exchanged a few more clicks with Red before picking him up and quickly depositing him into the sea. The seahorse then clicked in farewell before swimming off.

"Well…" Lance began awkwardly. "At least my idea worked."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up." Keith grumbled. Despite how much he didn't want to, he had to admit that Lance's idea had been a good one from the start.

"LANCE!"

Lance and Keith jumped as a high cry rang over the beach. Lance perked up like a meerkat and went pale as he saw Sofia running down the beach towards him. Upon seeing the youngest McLain, Blue yapped excitedly and ran towards the little girl.

"Hide!" Lance whispered urgently to Keith.

The Merman ducked down and flattened himself against the floor of the pool. Lance sprinted over to his youngest sister who was receiving a face-full of affectionate kisses.

"Blue, bajar!" Lance ordered with a laugh. The large dog ceased her loving assault on Sofia and stood back. "What's up Sofia?"

"Mama said that dinner's nearly ready." Sofia replied as she wiped her face down with her hands.

"Don't do that!" Lance chastised her. "You won't get clean that way! Go inside and wash!"

"Are you coming?" Sofia asked.

"I just need to go grab my stuff." Lance answered, jerking a thumb back towards the rocks. "I won't be too long."

Sofia turned back towards the house with Blue trotting behind her. Lance pranced back to the rocks and poked his head over Keith's pool. The Merman gave a small relived smile when he saw Lance and sat back up.

"Who was that?" Keith asked.

"Sofia. She's my youngest sister. She told me that dinner's ready."

"Oh." Keith's ears dropped at the news.

"I'll need to take you back into the caves while I'm away." Lance said pitifully. "But I may be able to make an excuse to see you later."

At that moment, a ring dinged from Lance's back pocket. Keith's ears perked up immediately and his eyes were drawn to the Cuban's jeans. The human in question drew out his phone and looked at his text message.

"Oh!" Lance smiled. "Pidge and Hunk want to hang out!"

"Who?"

"They're my best friends!" Lance said. "They're asking if I can meet up with them today since they're leaving town next week."

"I guess that means you won't be seeing me later." Keith grumbled.

"Well…" Lance suggested cautiously. "I could always bring them here to hang out. Then you won't be lonely."

"No way!" Keith protested vigorously. "They'll go off and tell others about me!"

"No they won't." Lance assured him. "Hunk is loyal to me and is strongly against cruelty of any kind. He wouldn't hand you over to anyone who would harm you. Pidge, on the other hand, loves asking questions. She will keep you as her personal information source and not share you with anyone else! Trust me; neither of them will tell anyone about you."

Keith still looked unsure.

"And if they do, I can get you back into the ocean before any Scientists arrive. Your tail may be injured, but I suppose a weak tail would be better than being dead or experimented on."

Keith flinched and shuddered at the mentioned images. He didn't want to risk being handed over to Scientists, but he didn't want to be left alone in that cave for too long over.

"Fine." Keith conceded quietly. "They can come."

"Cool." Lance grinned as he hauled Keith up onto the rocks. He then carried the Merman back into his cave and settled him down in his pool. "I'll be back soon. Promise!"

Lance left the cave throwing a quick wave behind him. He rushed to grab his bag before heading back to his house. On his way, he messaged his friends in their group chat.

 **You: You're good to come over (12:23)**

 **You: And bring lots of fish with you! (12:23)**

 **Hunk-a-burnin Love: Why? (12:23)**

 **You: I'll explain when you get here! ;) (12:24)**

 **Gremdgeon: I hate your surprises. :( (12:24)**

 **You: Luv you too! 3 (12:24)**

 **Gremdgeon: =_= (12:24)**

"Lance, no phones at the table!"

"Sorry Mama." Lance smiled sheepishly as he stuffed his phone into his pocket. "Pidge and Hunk were asking if they could come over later."

"Okay." Vanessa smiled sweetly. "Just as long as you are back here before it's dark."

"Of course Mama." Lance grinned assuredly.

* * *

 **And that's Chapter Two done! Researching seahorse noises took longer than it should have and I had to search up info on different dog breeds and cat litters! The things I do for authenticity in my fics! Red and Blue had to be incorporated into this fic somehow, so I thought that having them as pets would work best. Also, Kaltenecker! Because why not?**

 **Pidge, Hunk and Shiro will definitely be in the next chapter. 'Gremdgeon' is an amalgamation of 'Gremlin' and 'Pidgeon'. I couldn't decide which to go with, so I went with both! I'm still not sure how long this fic will be yet, but I suppose that's just something we'll have to find out!**

 **Shout out to all of those who have already began to follow and favourite:**

 **Followers:**

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 **Translations:**

 **Lo siento – Sorry**

 **Realmente enojado – Really mad**

 **Bajar – Get down**

 **If anyone who is or has studied Spanish has any better or more accurate phrases than what I've used, feel free to let me know; I'm kind of relying on Google right now! :P Also, chapter titles probably won't appear until the end of the fic, just like with Nigrum Sanguis.**

 **Anyway, that's all for this week! I hope you enjoy this new story as much as I do.**

 **Until next time, my wonderful readers!**

 **WarrynSparklegem**


	3. Chapter 3

**(Realises it has been two months since the last update) Really sorry about the hiatus. Between AS exams, preparing for UCAS and EPQ planning, time has been a little tight. Anyway, I'm here now! It's great to see so many people have decided to follow and favourite LAEAST (even though there's only two chapters so far).**

 **Enough prattle Warryn! On with the chapter!**

* * *

Despite his earlier confidence, Lance was a little bit nervous.

Okay, so maybe more than a little bit nervous.

Lance was…moderately nervous. He hadn't been lying when he said that he wasn't worried about Pidge and Hunk revealing his secret – after all, he trusted them both with his life! No, Lance was nervous because he wasn't entirely sure how his friends would react to the Mermaid. On a further note, he wasn't sure how Keith would react to two other humans being in the cave with him. He seemed fine with Lance so far, but you can never be 100% sure about these things. Worst case scenario; Hunk and Pidge get their faces bitten off.

 _It won't come to that._ Lance kept reassuring himself. _I won't let it come to that. He'll be fine, they'll be fine, everything will be fine._

Even so, Lance's leg continued to bob his leg up and down from where he was sat on his porch. Hunk and Pidge were due to arrive soon…

Meanwhile, a tiny red seahorse pushed his way through the ocean as quickly as he could. He had to be swift; his friend needed him! Keith had assured him that he was safe with the human, but Red was still wary. Shiro needed to retrieve his brother from the shore as soon as possible! Red squeaked happily when he saw the Castle looming in the distance. He ignored everything that surrounded him and darted like a bullet to the Castle, where he knew Shiro would be swimming frantically with worry.

"Lance! Hey!"

Lance's worry doubled alongside his relief when he heard Hunk's booming and cheerful greeting. Hunk waved when Lance looked up at him. He wore his usual beach attire of a floral shirt, baggy shorts and flip-flops. His bandana, of course, was also present.

"Hey buddy!" Lance beamed and leapt to his feet. His gaze then shifted from warm and gentle brown to cold and agitated hazel. "Hey Gremlin."

"This had better be good." Pidge grumbled with her arms crossed. "I'm missing out on hacking the Pentagon right now."

If Hunk was a cuddly bear, then Pidge was a grumpy fox. Or a raccoon. Or a weasel. One of those three. She also wasn't the biggest fan of the beach; it was alright, but she didn't like how the sand got _everywhere_ – hence why she was wearing her regular green shirt, three-quarter lengths and wellies.

"Trust me, it is." Lance flashed his dazzling grin. Then he turned to Hunk. "Did you bring the fish?"

"Yeah." Hunk replied, holding up a bulging plastic bag. "I don't understand why you need so much though. Oh well, I'll just go give it to your Mama."

"NO!"

Pidge and hunk both startled at Lance's sudden outburst. The Cuban's eyes widened and a blush blossomed over his cheeks. He yanked his hands from where they had grasped onto Hunk's arm.

"Uh…I mean no." Lance repeated calmly and bashfully. "They're not for us."

"Then who are they for?" Pidge blinked.

"That's why I've called you both here." Lance replied quietly. "Follow me."

Lance spun on one foot and began to stroll leisurely towards the caves. Hunk glanced a Pidge who just shrugged and followed her mysterious friend.

The afternoon Sun had dried up much or the rain from the previous night, so the trio sunk into the sand with every step they took. They were unusually quiet due to the tension hanging over them like a thick cloud of mist; Lance because he was still nervous, and Pidge and Hunk because they were slightly freaked out about their friend's behaviour. Lance finally spoke when they reached the mouth of the cave.

"Now, whatever you do, please don't freak out." Lance begged.

"Why?" Hunk questioned with a momentary stutter.

"Just…you'll see." Lance sighed.

The three carefully made their way towards the rear pools. Pidge and Hunk watched with confusion as Lance knelt by one of the pools and leaned over the water.

"Hey," _WHY THE HECK IS HE TALKING TO THE WATER!?_ "They're here now."

"Lance, wha-?"

Pidge choked to a halt as she saw a head of raven hair poke over the edge of the pool, accompanied by impossibly violet eyes and wide, thin ears. Both hers and Hunk's mouths drooped audibly.

"Wha…wha…"

"Pidge, Hunk, this is Keith." Lance smiled casually as if they were all sat in a café drinking coffee and eating overpriced sandwiches. "Keith, these are Pidge and Hunk, my best friends and most definitely NOT food."

Keith's whole face popped over the edge of the pool as he scowled up at Lance and hissed: "I have already established that I do not eat humans!"

"Geez, calm down Mullet!" Lance flinched defensively. "I was just trying to diffuse the tension."

Keith blinked as one of his ears fluttered.

"What is a 'Mullet'?"

"What are you?" Hunk suddenly burst out. Everyone stared at him with wide eyes. "Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to sound so rude or brash! It's just that…well…you know…?"

Hunk blushed profusely, and Lance shook himself back into reality.

"Well, Keith is a…he's a…" Lance tried to figure out how he could reveal Keith's species without arousing or triggering too much excitement. However, before he could decide on how to word it best, Keith was already answering for him.

"I am a Mermyt," Keith replied as he began to lean backwards and lift his tail out of the water. "But humans mostly refer to me as-"

"A MERMAID!" Pidge shrieked. The boys squeezed their hands to their ears to protect their eardrums from Pidge's echoing screeches. "OMG YOU'RE AN ACTUAL MERMAID! WELL, TECHNICALLY A MERMAN! WELL, TECHNICALLY A MERMYT BUT WHATEVER BECAUSE OMG YOU'RE REAL!"

"Pidge breathe!" Lance urged his enthusiastic friend.

As Pidge began to pant heavily through her wide grin, Lance and Hunk rushed to her to guide her back to a calm and composed persona. Keith's ears laid flat against his head. He was staring at the slightly over-excited human with fear and concern. Who knew that a human so small could contain so much energy? Then there was the big one – _Hunk_ , his mind supplied – who was much calmer and quieter than the smalle- _Pidge_. As he watched the trio, he decided that maybe, just maybe, he could put up with these humans long enough to heal and then go home.

* * *

"We've searched the coves and the reefs and the trenches Sir, but there's no sign of Keith anywhere."

Shiro just wanted to flop and curl up on the ground and sob. His little brother was missing and none of the patrols that he had sent out could find him in any of the usual places. Shiro was teetering on the edge of a panic attack! Thankfully, Princess Allura was on hand to control the situation.

"Thank you, Sergeant." She spoke regally and filled with gratitude. "You and your patrol must be exhausted. You should all go and rest now."

"Thank you, Your Highness." The Sergeant bowed and swam out of the throne room.

Now alone with her Captain, Allura sighed with sadness and worry. She looked at Shiro who stared at the ground with his fists clenched tightly. The Princess laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, to which he raised his own and placed it in hers.

"We will find him." She assured him. "Keith is strong. He'll find his way home."

"I-I know." Shiro's voice stuttered with a suppressed sob. "I just can't help but feel like I've failed him. I should have been able to protect him. I promised him all those years ago that I would look after him after Mum and Dad died. I just wish I could have done better."

"Don't say that Shiro!" Allura pleaded. "You have done a wonderful job in raising Keith and teaching him how to defend himself! He's still out there! We just have to stay strong and find him."

"But how?" Shiro asked helplessly. "We don't even know where to start!"

At that moment, a red blur flashed through Shiro's vision and circled his head. The frantic squeaks and clicks caught his attention.

"Red!?" Shiro exclaimed. "Slow down! What is it?"

Red stilled in front of Shiro's face and began to tell Shiro everything. Allura floated next to her Captain as she listened to Red most attentively.

"Injured?" She gasped.

"With a human?" Shiro gasped, equally as shocked.

Red clicked to confirm both questions.

Shiro turned pale with shock. Keith was injured and in the hands of a human. Apparently he was safe and protected, but was he really? How did he know that this human wouldn't expose Keith to the other humans and use him as a freakshow to bring him money? Shiro shuddered at the horrors that crossed his mind and decided that he wasn't going to risk it.

"I'm going to him." Shiro declared determinedly.

"Shiro-" Allura began, but said Captain would have none of it.

"I have to see him Allura!" He insisted. "I have to make sure he's okay!"

"I know." Allura sighed. "But I don't want to lose you as well. Especially with you going so close to the shore! Can't you wait until night-time?"

"I'll be able to see anything approaching me if I travel in daylight." Shiro assured that Princess. "I'll be back by nightfall."

Then, with a small smile and after a quick glance around, Shiro leant down and placed a short, sweet kiss upon Allura's lips.

"I won't be long." He whispered his promise.

"You'd better not be." Allura threatened fondly. "Or else I'll be coming after you."

Shiro huffed out a laugh before turning to the seahorse that stared at him

"Show me the way Red."

Red chirped and turned, leading Shiro out of the Castle and to Keith.

* * *

Keith sighed contentedly since his stomach was now full of delicious fish. While he ate, Pidge had rapidly fired questions at him – questions such as: How old are you? What is that in human years? What do you eat? Do you have to come up for air like dolphins? Will your tail turn to legs if you're out of water for long enough? Keith answered as honestly as he could without being too revealing: 18. About the same. Fish, seaweed and other stuff. No. No.

Since meeting Lance's friends, Keith had learned to relax. Hunk was friendly once he had gotten over his initial shock and Pidge was incredibly investigative, but he could tell that she wasn't going to stab a scalpel into him any time soon. Lance sat and watched the ordeal with great ease. Now that he knew Keith wasn't going to bite anyone and Pidge and Hunk wouldn't expose him to the rest of the world, he could begin to concentrate on keeping Keith hidden from everyone else.

"So, what are you doing here?" Pidge eventually asked. "I would have thought that you would be out in the ocean rather than stuck in this cave."

Keith's face fell slightly but he retained his strong composure. Similarly, Lance sat up and watched Keith intently. He knew that Keith was injured, but he didn't know the entire story. Maybe now he could hear it.

"Well," Keith said. "I was out swimming. I realised that it was late out, so I started to head back home. It was moonlight out and my brother doesn't like it when I'm out that late, but before I could get back home, I heard a baby dolphin crying out for help. When I looked for it, I saw that it had been caught in a human's fishing net."

The humans flinched, and Hunk brought a hand to his mouth to hold back a gasp while he forced back tears. Pidge's eyes widened in horror while a frown deepened on Lance's face.

"I went to help," Keith continued. "And after I had freed him, I got tangled up in the net instead. The humans pulled me up onto their boat and began to plan what to do to me. But the sea was rough last night and I was tossed overboard into a rock. I hit my tail and head and was knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I was in this cave."

"Your head seems to be fine now." Pidge commented, turning her head around to look closely at Keith's. "How's your tail?"

"It's cut." Keith replied. "It hurts when I try to move it, so I can't return home until it's healed enough. Lance has already treated it though."

"Lance is rubbish at pretty much everything though." Pidge deadpanned as she straightened her glasses.

"Hey!" Lance squawked indignantly. "My medical skills are top notch, thank you very much!"

"Yeah, well, I still want to have a look." Pidge said. "My brother's a marine biologist, after all."

Hunk and Lance assisted Keith out of the water so that Pidge could access his tail. She gently unwound the clingfilm and bandages to look at the wound beneath. It was an angry red, but she concluded that there were no signs of infection and well on the way to healing. She judged that Keith would be able to swim back home by the end of the week.

"Perhaps Lance isn't completely lacklustre in fist aid after all." Pidge commented nonchalantly.

"Of course it is!" Lance exclaimed. "Don't you know what they call me? They call me the Doctor because of how I wrap the cut!"

Pidge groaned in despair while Hunk and Keith tried to hold back snickers.

"That was even worse than your Tailor statement." Pidge glared at Lance. "And also, very insulting to Whovians everywhere."

She then turned back to Keith and made a final assessment on his injury while Lance boggled at her with annoyance. "Just keep your wound clean and wrapped up. From what I can see, your tail should be strong enough for long-distance swimming by the end of next week."

She proceeded to cover the wound and Lance assisted her with wrapping the bandages and clingfilm around Keith's tail. Although Keith flinched and hissed in pain occasionally, the procedure was relatively painless and uncomplex. He sighed in relief when his tail was lowered to the ground. His pain had decreased substantially since the wound was now wrapped much more securely. Pidge may be an annoying human, but she sure knew her stuff. Maybe not so bad after all…

" _Never let yourself be fooled Keith." Shiro warned him sternly. "Just because someone acts friendly with you doesn't mean that they won't hurt you. Always be on your guard with strangers."_

It may have been a lesson from years ago, but Keith heeded his advice even now. Lance, Hunk and Pidge certainly seemed like nice people, but he still had to remain wary of them. He had to be prepared to use his fangs if necessary.

"Anyway," Pidge yawned, stretching her arms high above her back (Keith winced in disgust when he heard her bones crack). "I should get back home now. I've still got some packing to do."

"Me too." Hunk sighed blissfully, stretching his back and spinning his shoulders. "And I still need to find Shay a gift."

"I've told you already, just bake her a cake or something!" Lance exclaimed, exasperated that he's had to say this multiple times during the past week, by mouth and by text. "Shay will fawn over anything you cook for her!"

"I know that!" Hunk sighed. "But I want to get her something extra special! Something meaningful. Something that will stay with her when I have to come back here."

"Pardon me," Keith interrupted. "But who is Shay?"

"She's Hunk's girlfriend." Pidge grinned at the large chef, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly.

"Yeah." Lance grinned at his buddy with the same expression. "He met her a couple of years ago when he was in Hawaii. He slipped and fell on top of her in the pool."

"NOT my greatest moment there Lance!" Hunk forced through gritted teeth as a blush blossomed across his face.

"Well, you could give her some aquamarine turquoise." Keith suggested.

"I've heard of it," Hunk brightened up, then dimmed again. "But she's not much of a 'blue' person. She tends to enjoy yellows and greens."

"Well, turquoise has green mixed in with it." Lance pointed out.

"It is also a very meaningful item among my people." Keith continued. "We treasure it greatly because it represents love, wisdom and spirituality. It is also meant to act as protection and help to balance your emotions. I'm sure she will like it if you explain its meaning to her."

"Huh." Hunk grunted in deep thought. "That sounds cool. Thanks Keith. I'll consider it."

"Consider it thanks for my meal, I guess." Keith looked away bashfully. He couldn't let anyone see him blush. It wasn't often anyone thanked him for anything.

"You know, for a jewellery fashion expert, I would have thought that you would have chosen a hairstyle better than a mullet." Lance grinned evilly.

"It. Is. Not. A. Mullet." Keith growled out frustrated.

 _I swear I will eat his precious face off if he doesn't shut up!_ He thought aggressively.

"Anyway, we've got to go now." Pidge jerked a thumb back to the cave's entrance. "But I will be back some time this week! I'm not done with you yet mister!"

And, for some reason, Keith felt alright about that.

* * *

When Shiro poked his head into the rock pool, his stomach plummeted. Red was certain that this was where Keith had been. Where was he now? What had that human done with him?

"Oh Keith, where are you?" Shiro muttered despairingly. Red chirped sorrowfully from the water.

"When will you be back?"

Shiro ducked suddenly and carefully peered through a gap in the rocks. Three humans were stumbling out of a cave just on the coastline. The largest wore a blindingly colourful shirt while the smallest was clad in green. The middle human was tanned with chestnut hair and sea-blue eyes. He fit the description that Red had given him perfectly. Shiro's eyes narrowed at the tanned human.

"Probably the day after tomorrow." The smallest replied. "I want to come back some time before we leave. I still have more questions to ask. How different do you think mermaid blood is to human blood?"

Shiro shivered with terror. What were they doing to his brother!?

"I reckon his cells will also have mullets." The middle human laughed. "Mini mullets."

"Welp, I've got to go." The largest waved as he began to walk away. "My mums will freak out if I'm not back before my dark."

"And my family will send out a search party." The smallest added on as they chased the largest one. "We'll see you in a couple of days."

"Bye!"

Shiro waited patiently as the middle human watched his friends walk away. Once the beach was clear the human turned back towards the cave. Shiro began to move. He couldn't let this human disappear. He _needed_ to know where Keith was! Without time to think of a plan, Shiro flattened himself against the rock and began to make loud splashing sounds. With any luck, the human would be attracted to the sounds.

"Huh? What's that?" Then there were soft footsteps heading towards the rock.

 _Hook, line and sinker._ Shiro thought triumphantly.

The footsteps continued until a hand appeared on the edge as the human leaned forwards to look down. Before his face could peek over Shiro grabbed the wrist with lightning speed and yanked the human into the water. He twisted the arm behind the human's back and held his neck using the other. The human's free hand came up to grab the arm as he spluttered for air and wriggled ferociously in his grip.

Shiro had no time for games. He pulled the arm higher up the back while simultaneously tightening his grip on the human's neck. His prisoner immediately ceases all movements and he wheezed heavily. His eyes were wide with terror and the merman could feel the pulse quicken in his captive's neck. The human was scared. Good. He should be.

"Now then," Shiro growled low and threateningly. "Where is my brother?"

* * *

 **Warryn: Now now Shiro; lets not be too hasty... 0.0"**

 **Shiro: I will stop at nothing to get Keith back.** **I WOULD DIE FOR KEITH!**

 **Warryn: You kind of already did...**

 **Shiro: What?**

 **Warryn: Nothing!**

 **Look who's back! Back again! I'm back with more filler! Sorry if this chapter was too short or filler-y (I think I picked a story line with a really long plot). Hopefully next chapter will be a bit more interesting; we should be finding out about our villains. I wonder who they could be? Also, SEASON 6 FREAKING KILLED ME! Btw, I'm also very mad that Lance's new bayard didn't appear at all this season! We literally see it for one scene in Season 5 and then it doesn't appear in season 6. Not even one glimpse!**

 **Despite that, Season 6 was pretty awesome! I cannot wait for Season 7!**

 **(Insert fun question so that I can interact with my readers): If you could travel to any country in the world for free, which one would it be and why?**

 **Until the next chapter my wonderful readers!**

 **WarrynSparklegem**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! How are you all doing? How's your Summer going? I don't know about you, but I know how Lance's Summer is going to turn out (MWEH HEH HEH!). I wrote the AN once already, but then the page crashed on me and now I have to re-write everything all over again! Anyway, I finally get to move the plot along a bit! Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy! :)**

* * *

Lance gave Hunk and Pidge a final wave as they disappeared from the beach. His hand collapsed down to his side as a smile stretched over his face. He was happy that his friends were getting along with Keith – and vice versa. At first glance, Lance believed that Keith was one of those 'lone-wolf-emo' kind of guys who just didn't want to get on with anyone, so it was pleasantly surprising that Keith was actually rather friendly. Even better was that Keith seemed to enjoy himself as well! Sure, there was still a slight glare in his eyes, but he was at least loosening up.

Lance took in a deep breath of fresh, salty air and exhaled through his mouth. He turned to return to Keith but paused when he heard some loud splashing coming from the pools. Of course, water hit the rocks all the time, but this wasn't water hitting something; this was something hitting water.

"Huh?" Lance muttered to himself. "What was that?"

With light and cautious steps, Lance tiptoed towards the pools, occasionally leaning over to peer into the water. When he came to the edge he kneeled down and grasped the rock for support, ready to lean over. However, before he could see what was hiding, a hard and slimy hand seized his wrist with lightning speed and dragged him into the water.

Lance's first thought was: _Get to the surface! Breathe!_

His second thought was: _Ow! My arm hurts!_

Whoever had him was pushing his arm up his back with one hand. The other was wrapped around his neck and squeezing. It wasn't hard, but it was definitely uncomfortable. Lance coughed the water out of his throat and looked around as well as he could with wide eyes. In response to his wriggling, the arm around his neck squeezed harder to the point where Lance was struggling to draw in breaths. To avoid further pressure and discomfort, Lance went slack. His assaulter seemed pleased by his compliancy as the pressure around his neck loosened slightly.

"Now then," A low voice snarled into his ear. "Where is my brother?"

 _Brother? Does he mean Keith?_

Lance tried to speak, but his voice came out as a wheeze because the arm was still quite tight around his throat. Reluctantly, his captor loosened his grip further, allowing Lance to draw in deep breaths.

"I won't ask you again." The voice growled threateningly as his arm was forced up more. "Where. Is. My. Brother?"

"You mean Keith?" Lance asked quietly.

The voice behind him inhaled sharply and the tight grip on his arm began to burn.

"If you and your friends have done ANYTHING to him, I swear I will tear your insides out!" The enraged voice muttered darkly.

"Dude, chill!" Lance moaned out of discomfort. "Keith's fine, okay? I can take you to him if you want! He's just inside that cave."

"And why should I believe you? How do I know you're not leading me into a trap?"

"Well," Lance smiled smugly. "He told me that your name is Shiro, and – let's face it – he's far to stubborn to tell me that unwillingly, even if I did torture him."

A thoughtful sigh rumbled in the assailant's throat, but his hold still remained firm.

"Also," Lance continued. "I'm the one who sent Red to you. Well, I didn't really send him; I caught him and then Keith sent him, but still…"

Something chirped in agreement from his side.

"See?"

Shiro sighed again. He slowly removed his limbs from the Human, allowing him to turn his head and look at him properly for the first time. Lance wasn't quite sure what he expected Keith's older brother to be like. He had the same pale skin and black hair (apart from the white forelocks), but the eyes were different. Shiro's were more of a stormy grey as opposed to Keith's bright and unnatural violet. Then there was Shiro's arms and torso. Lance suddenly felt like he'd had it easy since those arms looked like they could snap him in half with little effort!

"So…Red told me that Keith was injured." Shiro began. His eyes contained a glare, but Lance could see the built-up worry threatening to burst through the aggressive mask. Lance could understand that though.

"Yeah." Lance replied. "He hurt himself on a rock. I'll bring him out so that he can tell you himself. Don't move."

Without waiting for a response, Lance hauled himself up onto the rocks with a punched-out grunt and stumbled to his feet. He slipped every now and then on his hasty journey back to Keith, but he managed to retain his balance every time.

"Keith?" Lance's echo beckoned throughout the entire cave.

"What is it?" Keith poked his head out of his pool, startled by the urgency in the Human's voice. His eyes widened further as they took in Lance's state. "What happened to you?"

"Your brother's here." Lance replied. "And he really needs to see you before he loses his tail or something."

"Shiro's here?" Keith breathed out, and then smiled.

He was so desperate to see his brother that he didn't squirm when Lance bent down to haul him out of the pool and into his arms. As he was carried out of the cave, he thought about what he should tell Shiro. If he told him about the fishing boat, he may never be allowed back out into the ocean again! But, then again, lying to Shiro was hard and would only worry him even more. Additionally, he didn't want to make his brother suspicious of Lance for no reason. Sure, he was a Human, and maybe a little narcistic and annoying, but he had a good heart.

Why was this so hard?

Most of his doubts disappeared though when the duo exited the cave. Keith could see Shiro sat on the rock keeping an eye out for any Humans coming along the beach. Keith smiled brightly! Oh, he'd never been so happy to see his brother before!

"Shiro!"

Shiro's head twisted so quickly that he was afraid he'd broken his neck! Lance's momentary panic ceased once he saw a smile break out on Shiro's face and joyful tears bead in his eyes.

"Keith!" Shiro laughed in relief. "Thank goodness you're all right!"

Shiro and Keith were already pulling at each other's arms before Lance had set Keith down. Once Keith was sat next to his brother, the two clung onto each other like koalas to trees.

"Oh, Keith!" Shiro mumbled into his younger brother's hair. "I'm so glad you're all right! You had me so worried!"

"I'm sorry." Keith replied into his neck. "I didn't mean to worry you! I'm fine. Injured, but fine."

"Yeah. Red told me." Shiro said, pulling away to look at Keith square in the face. He then looked down at the little seahorse clicking happily in the water. "He told me everything."

"Thanks Red." Keith smiled, stroking the top of the seahorse's head with a finger.

"Where are you hurt?" Now that the joy of the reunion had faded, Shiro's more worrisome side was taking full control.

"I have a cut on my tail." Keith replied, wincing slightly as he lifted his tail to reveal the bandages and cling film. "It hurts for me to swim, but it should be healed enough for me to return home next week. Lance and Pidge treated it for me."

At this point, Shiro finally looked away from Keith and to the Human. Lance was still stood behind Keith. His soaked clothes were dripping, and his hair was plastered to his forehead, but he still looked happy nonetheless.

"You're Lance, right?" Shiro clarified.

"Yeah." Lance confirmed sheepishly. It wasn't often that someone recognised him for doing something.

"Well, uh…" Shiro coughed, just as sheepish. "I-I guess that I should thank you. For looking after Keith. He can be…troublesome…and difficult sometimes."

("HEY!")

"No, he's no trouble at all." Lance reassured. "At least, he hasn't tried to bite my face off."

Shiro chuckled while Keith bristled indignantly.

"And those Humans I saw earlier?" Shiro asked. "The green one and the yellow one? Who were they?"

"You mean Pidge and Hunk?" Lance realised. "They came over to meet Keith. The three of them are actually rather friendly with each other now! Don't worry! I know they won't say anything about Keith; they're my best friends. I would trust them with my life."

"I hope so." Shiro muttered lowly.

Thankfully, before the situation could get awkward, Shiro turned back to his brother.

"So, how did you hurt your tail again?"

Keith paled a shade whiter and suddenly found the ground rather fascinating. Shiro's eyes narrowed and he bent down to look at his brother in the eye.

"Keith?"

Keith looked up at his brother's 'tell-me-or-else-you'll-be-in-big-trouble' tone. He knew he'd already made up his mind, but it was still difficult to tell him the truth. Then again, if he lied, then there was the very strong possibility that Lance would tell the truth instead, and he would then be in huge trouble. So, after sighing deeply, Keith looked at his brother square in the eye.

"I…I was captured by as…humanshippingvessel."

Shiro's ear flinched as it tried to make sense of Keith's silent mumbles.

"Can you repeat that please Keith?"

"I was captured by a…Human shipping vessel." Keith finally admitted, his ears flopping down to the side of his head.

"What!?" Shiro exclaimed suddenly, his eyes bulging and ears spreading in urgency. "The Humans did this to you!?"

"No, no!" Keith quickly calmed his brother. "I hit a rock after throwing myself off the boat."

"You threw yourself off the boat!?" Shiro screeched.

"Ssh! Quiet!" Lance urgently hushed the hysterical Merman. "My family literally live just on the other side of this beach! If you don't want them racing over here, then tone it down a bit!"

"S-sorry." Shiro said with a quieter voice. "Oh gosh, you were nearly taken by Humans! I knew I shouldn't have let you out!"

"It wasn't like I was caught by chance!" Keith growled defensively, crossing his arms. "I was freeing a dolphin from a net and got caught in it! Otherwise I would have been left alone. You've got to stop worrying about me all the time!"

"I know, I know!" Shiro groaned, rubbing a hand down his face. "You're old enough to make your own decisions and go winning off without me escorting you, but that doesn't mean I going to stop worrying about you! You're my little brother, for goodness' sake! I just don't want to lose you like we lost mum and dad!"

Keith kept silent and Shiro sighed deeply again ( _Is this dude in Sigh Mode or something?_ ). Lance flitted his gaze between the two but said nothing. This wasn't his fight or his business.

"We can talk more about this when you're recovered and back home." Shiro said finally. "For now, you just need to focus on healing your tail. If it heals wrong, your swimming could be impaired forever."

"What?" Lance gasped, paling at the thought of Keith being unable to swim again.

"He's doing fine so far!" Shiro quickly reassured the panicking Human. "But I should probably come back sometime soon with some Shifa Weed. That'll increase your chances of full recovery."

"That's cool." Lance said. "But next time, don't pull me into the sea. Seriously dude – that freaking terrified me!"

"Yeah…" Shiro blushed shamefully while rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that…"

"Eh, no biggie." Lance brushed it off. "Hell hath no fury like a worried and over-protective older sibling. Believe me, I know…"

"Do you have a large family?" Shiro asked curiously.

"Yeah." Lance laughed as he pulled his pone case out and removed his phone. "Real big."

Lance's eyes comically widened as he looked at the time.

"Oh no!" He groaned. "It's nearly dinner time! If I'm not at the table on time, my Mama will come out looking for me!"

"Keith, you should go back to your hiding spot." Shiro said. "I'll come back tomorrow to see how you are."

"Are you sure?" Keith asked. "You're Captain of the Royal Guard. Something might come up!"

"I'll be quick visiting." Shiro promised. "I'll just come and check up on you quickly and then go straight back. Don't worry about it. You're my first priority right now."

"But the Princess needs you as well." Keith argued. "Don't put the Kingdom in jeopardy just because I have a little scratch! I'll be fine, I promise."

"You'd better be." Shiro grunted as he lowered himself back into the water. He fixed the Human with a sharp glare. "Lance, if _anything_ happens to my brother, I _will_ personally make you suffer the next time you go into the see, _regardless_ of whether or not other people are there. Understand?"

"Sir, yes sir." Lance chuckled nervously and saluted.

"Bye Red." Keith waved at the seahorse who chirped goodbye back.

With one last glance between the brothers, Shiro dived into the water and propelled himself deeper with a powerful wave of his tail.

"Come on Keith." Lance said as he knelt down to take Keith into his arms again. "He'll be back tomorrow."

"Yeah…" Keith muttered as he was lifted up. His eyes flickered to and from the Human's face as he was carried back into the cave. "Hey, Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks…for all of this." Keith said seriously. "I'm really grateful for everything."

He looked at Lance straight in the eye to show his sincerity. After a few seconds, Lance blushed and looked away.

"It's okay." Lance replied. "I help lots of people. I like helping people."

"You didn't have to help me though." Keith pointed out. "Any other Human would have sold me off to some scientists for money."

"Well, I'm not 'any other Human'." Lance laughed, lowering Keith back into his pool.

"I know." Keith smiled slightly, remembering the fishermen on the boat and then comparing them to Lance.

"I'll come see you later." Lance promised. "See ya!"

Keith watched Lance fly out of the cave, eager to escape his mother's wrath. Only once the Human had disappeared did Keith speak quietly with flat ears and a small frown: "See ya."

* * *

"Mijo, what happened to you!?"

Lance paused in the doorway as his family turned and stared at him. He'd hoped to quickly run up to his room before his family could look at him and see his state. Alas, he had failed. His Mama, sharp as ever, had caught him as soon as he had stepped into the house.

"I slipped and fell." He replied immediately, trying very hard to keep a straight face and conceal all signs of lying.

" _You_?" Marianna asked sceptically with a raised eyebrow. " _You_ slipped and fell into the water?"

"Yup." Lance replied. "I slipped and fell into the water. It happens, you know?"

"Yeah…" Fernanda grinned. "But weren't you saying just last week that it would never happen to you? You know, because you're the _'master of rock-walking'_?"

"Did I say that?" Lance asked sarcastically, putting a finger beneath his chin and making a show of thinking really hard.

"You did, and you know it." Felipe said.

"Go get changed Lance." Mama ordered, leaving no space for argument. "I will not allow you to sit at the table drenched in saline water. And take a shower as well!"

"Yes Mama." Lance conceded and leapt up the stairs to wash and change as quickly as he could. If he didn't hurry, there wouldn't be any garlic knots left for him!

Lance sighed in ecstasy as the warm water of the shower cascaded over his freezing body (wandering around in soaking clothes tends to make a person cold, ya know?). Lance made sure to scrub extra hard to get rid of all the salt and sand before applying his moisturising shower cream. On a positive note, the salt and sand had rubbed away any dead skin, so his skin texture was smoother than normal. Smooth, like Keith's skin, and his tail when wet. Maybe his hair was as silky as his scales. And those lips, so plush and smooth and-

 _WOAH, WOAH! That's enough of that!_

Lance quickly turned off the shower and leapt out. All that relaxation was allowing his mind to wander off into areas he _didn't_ want to think about, like, at all! Sure, Keith looked cute and his heartbeats increased whenever those violet eyes looked into his, but he was a Mermyt, a completely different species! It would never work!

Besides, Keith was only staying until his tail was healed and he could return home. By then, he and Lance would only be good friends, probably to never see each other again. They only had a limited time together, so Lance was going to make the most of it. As he pulled on his shorts and T-shirt, he decided firmly that he would sneak out and see Keith again that night.

* * *

The sunlight didn't reach this far down. The bottom of the trench was illuminated only by small, glowing rocks and swarms of glowing plankton. Seaweed grew tall from the seabed and moved in synchronised waves with the current. There were no fish down here, no lifeforms other than the plankton which never left the depths anyway. The perfect place for their purpose.

The servant shuffled through the seaweed and then dived into a tiny cavern as they had done a thousand times before. They followed the path of glowing rocks to a large cave where their Master sat with his Witch.

"My Lord!" He called. He paused just before them and bowed lowly. His Master punished disobedience and disrespect very harshly, often throwing offenders into the cruel arms of his Witch.

"Report." His Master ordered simply.

"The Captain has returned to the Castle." The servant reported swiftly and dutifully. "His brother has suffered a tail injury and if recovering on land, hidden by a Human."

"A Human?" His Master wondered wistfully. "How curious…I always thought that Humans would exploit the Mermyts for their own personal gain."

"Indeed, my Lord," The servant agreed. "But the Captain seems to trust this Human enough to leave his brother along with him. However, I hear that he will be returning tomorrow and possibly every day after to check on his brother."

"The absences of the Captain would provide us with plenty of opportunities to carry out our plans." His Master thought aloud. "Return to the Castle and continue to observe them."

Vrepit Sa, Emperor Zarkon." The servant bowed deeply before departing.

Once the servant had disappeared, Zarkon turned to his Witch.

"Haggar," He asked. "Are your enchantments complete?"

"Yes, my Lord." Haggar replied with a scratchy voice. "They need only be planted in the locations of the Shield Stones. Then, once I activate them, they will destroy the stones' powers and leave the Altean Kingdom vulnerable, ready to be invaded."

"Excellent." Zarkon grinned, his purple eyes glowing with satisfaction. "This pleases me greatly. The Galra will soon be returned to their rightful place. King Alfor committed a great crime against us when he destroyed our land. He is dead, but he is not redeemed. For that, his daughter must pay."

"Indeed, my Lord." Haggar agreed. She watched as her Emperor move towards his rocky perch. His six long legs were sharp at the ends and covered with hard armour which was almost impenetrable. Even without the ability to turn his hands into sharp pincers, Emperor Zarkon was deadly. Despite his bulky body, he was quick – especially in water – and capable of fighting numerous foes at the same time. While the Galra were of similar builds, none of them were as large or as strong as their Emperor. Many had tried to dethrone him in the past to rule the Galra themselves, but they inevitably lost and found themselves under the ' _gracious_ 'and ' _most loving_ 'care of Haggar.

Haggar, on the other hand, had a more 'Mermyt' figure. Her black and purple hair floated about her face like a hood, but her yellow eyes pierced through easily. Her tail was long and black. Her tail end was larger and more fanned-out than a regular Mermyt's tail and her black scales trailed up her body, covering her chest, but stopping just below her shoulders. From there, black and purple swirls covered her arms like eels.

"Should all go well," Zarkon mused. "Both Humans and Alteans will fall, and we will be the sole rulers of the ocean."

"None shall stand in our way." Haggar promised.

"Of course they shall not." The Emperor agreed. "You will see to that."

In reply, Haggar merely bowed her head in respect. Soon, all Humans and Alteans would be dead. And it was all thanks to the Captain's younger brother. Just the though made Zarkon grin with glee.

* * *

 **Now to write out the AN all over again. (And it was so good the first time!)**

 **Anyway, Haggar and Zarkon _finally_ make an appearance as the main villains. Haggar was hard to imagine as a sea creature because she's always wearing her hood and cloak. Since she's Altean, I figured that she would look like a creepy version of a Mermyt, but if you all have a different re-imagining of her, then feel free to let me know! On the other hand, Zarkon was much easier to re-imagine. I was re-watching a playthrough of _Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons_ and saw the weird Spider-Lady from the end. Then I thought: _What if Zarkon was a Galra-Crab hybrid like she was a Woman-Spider hybrid? So here Zarkon has a regular upper body but a crab lower body and his hands can transform into crab pincers at will._**

 ** _On a more exciting note, Season 7 comes out next week! It looks like we'll be seeing Earth and some of Shiro's backstory (which I am really excited for!). However, I still have some things that I want to see in the next one or two upcoming seasons:_**

 ** _1\. Lance's Altean broadsword. We saw it once in Season 5 and heard that Lance is greater than he thinks, but then it doesn't make a single appearance in Season 6, so I'm hoping that he will show it to the team soon._**

 ** _2\. Backstories and families of Hunk and Lance. Pidge and Keith have had complete family and backstory arcs now. We're delving into Shiro's this season, but we still don't know much about Hunk's and Lance's families other than some members and names, so I'm looking forward to that coming up._**

 ** _3\. Lance meets Commander Iverson again. I want Lance to meet Iverson again so that he can see how much Lance had improved. He could still be mean to Lance and wonder how one of his worst students managed to become a Defender of the Universe, or suck it up and compliment Lance on his improvements, which sounds better than the first option. Iverson telling Lance off in the first Season was one of the centre points of Lance's insecurities which we saw throughout the Series, so I want the two of them to meet again at some point._**

 ** _4\. Allura rejects Lance. Well, maybe reject is too strong of a word. While I do like the Lance/Allura shipping, I think that in the show, it would be better to leave the two of them as close friends, like Gravity Falls did for Wendy and Dipper. The show is already delving into possible gay relationships, so looking at unrequited feelings and light rejection would be a rather good path for the show to down. Like I said, I wouldn't be totally opposed to Allurance becoming canon, but I just feel like their relationship is too sibling-like to be romantic._**

 ** _What about you guys? Do you agree? Are there other things you're looking forward to? Feel free to share! I don't think another update will arrive before Season 7 comes out, but I'll try not to keep you all waiting for long._**

 ** _Until next time, my wonderful readers!_**

 ** _WarrynSparklegem_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_DreamWorks, can't you seeeeeee, we're in miseryyyyyyyyy, because you couldn't let Adashi be happyyyyyy!_**

 **Season 7 killed me! It was so glorious and beautiful! I was so glad to see Hunk finally get some character development. All we need is a Lance arc and everything is complete! I just have a few issues, number one being WHERE THE HECK WAS LANCE'S BROADSWORD? Seriously! Two seasons without it reappearing! Also, Iverson apologised for being a jerk to Keith (which we saw happen in flashbacks this season) but he hasn't yet apologised for being a jerk to Lance way back in the first episode. I am still waiting for that scene. Also, Adam died. WTF.**

 **Other than that, VERONICA. WAS. PERFECT! Veronica is one of the best characters of the show, fight me! She's the perfect sister for Lance. Also, it seems that the directors may be going for Lance x Allura, which I'm okay with. Klance is still my OTP, but Allurance is okay as well.**

 **Anyway, enough rambling. Here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Keith couldn't sleep. He knew that he should be sleeping if he wanted to recover faster, but he couldn't. The gears in his brain just wouldn't stop turning. Just as he managed to answer a question in his mind, a million more came up. He'd long since concluded that he was safe with Lance (and Pidge and Hunk too, he supposed) – that no longer weighed on his conscious. Tonight, his thoughts were primarily focused on Shiro.

 _He shouldn't be acting so carelessly._ He thought. _I get that he's worried about me, but he can't just leave the Kingdom unprotected every day just to see me! Anything could happen in his absence! The Princess could be kidnapped, or assassinated, or require his services for a mission. The guards would be a mess without his guidance and the security would go lax without his eyes watching them. Heck, Zarkon could just waltz straight into the Kingdom with no problem!_

Keith grit his teeth and growled in frustration. The action caused a stream of bubbles to rise from his mouth to the surface of his pool. It may not be the ocean, but it was thankfully large enough for him to lay down flat. As Keith continued to stare at the blurred image of the rocks above, his anger dissipated slightly. He couldn't stay completely mad at Shiro. His brother was just worried about him, and this time, it was completely warranted. Keith was living on land, so far from home, where anyone could just come in and find him and then expose him to the population. Also, it was his fault that he was here in the first place. He could have avoided the fishing nets if he had been faster, if he'd been more careful. Oh well. There's no point in lamenting over that now. Still, his mind was buzzing way too much to let him sleep. He needed to relax.

Keith closed his eyes and tried counting dolphins. He only managed to reach seven before he got bored and abandoned that idea altogether. Darn it, this wasn't going to work. With a deep groan, Keith sat up and stroked his hair out of his eyes with a hand. He shuddered at the initial chill of leaving the water, but soon stilled and sighed.

One of Keith's ears flickered when he heard a couple of rocks clanging together. His sharp eyes switched their focus towards the cave entrance and stared intensely. He ducked his body down far enough to hide while also being able to see any oncoming threats. His survival instincts began to kick in as his lips curled back to bare his fangs, ready to attack in defence. His eyes narrowed when a beam of light came into view. It jiggled about as the person stumbled over the rocks. Then there was a splash accompanied by a familiar whine: "Ah! Darn it!"

Keith immediately recoiled and fought back his survival instincts. He poked his head up further to get a clear view of Lance pulling one foot out of a pool and shaking the water from it.

"Lance?" He called out. "What are you doing here?"

Lance turned to him as soon as the Mermyt's voice rang out and smiled.

"Hey Keith." He waved. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No." Keith shook his head and laid it on his arm laid on the rock. "I was awake. I couldn't sleep."

"Oh, good." Lance said as he knelt down by the pool. "Well, not 'good' that you couldn't sleep, but good that I didn't wake you."

Keith stared at Lance with a raised eyebrow. The message was clear: _get on with it_.

"Uh, anyway," Lance coughed, fighting down a blush. "I came to see if you wanted to stargaze…with me."

"'Stargaze'?" Keith repeated. One of his ears twitched.

"Yeah. Stargaze." Lance confirmed. "It's when humans go out on a clear night and just look at the Stars."

Keith's eyes widened in wonder: "I've never looked at the Stars before."

"Really!?" Lance nearly screeched. "How have you never seen the Stars!? Don't you just have to swim upwards and look at the sky?"

"My brother." Keith replied simply. "Remember him?"

"Oh yeah…" Lance drawled, embarrassed that he had momentarily forgotten Shiro's protective tendencies. After rubbing the back of his neck, he stretched his hand out towards Keith. "Anyway, wanna join me?"

Keith stared at the hand and then up at the Human. He was reminded of a similar scenario from when he was younger. Keith had barely left the Kingdom after his parents had been killed by Humans out in the open ocean. He was scared to leave the safety of his home and avoided going out into the sea for years. That was up until Shiro offered to swim out with him to show him the coral reefs. He'd said:

" _Come on Keith! It'll be fun."_

The hand and smile he'd given Keith were identical to the ones Lance was giving him now. And, just like back then, Keith couldn't help but be filled to the brim with a comforting warmth, like he felt…safe. So much so that Keith couldn't help but smile back at the Human.

"Sure, why not?" He shrugged.

And, as if things couldn't get any better, Lance's smile widened to a dazzling grin.

"Great!" Lance chirped cheerfully.

Lance wrapped his arms around Keith as he'd done many times within the last few days and lifted him from the pool, water streaming over his crimson scales and dripping onto the ground with satisfying pats. The Human walked through the cave carefully and well-balanced in order to not drop his precious cargo (Keith would surely bite his face off if he dropped him). As they came closer to the moth of the cave, Keith began to shudder lightly as the freezing night air brushed against them. In response, Lance held him closer, though both of them pretended to not notice. Lance set Keith down on a dry rock with a clear view of the beach and the ocean.

Keith took one glance at the view before him and gasped in awe! The sky was barren of any clouds, leaving a clear sight of twinkling Stars sprinkled around a blindingly white Moon. The same view reflected off the surface of the ocean, though it was wavier and distorted due to the flowing of the sea.

"Wow…" Keith exhaled through a grin.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lance said as he sat next to Keith, his gaze fixed on the Stars.

"They are." Keith replied. "And you get to see these all the time?"

"Only at night," Lance clarified. "When the sky is clear. You can see them more clearly on the coastlines since we have less light pollution."

"I…I can't believe I never tried to see them before!" Keith chuckled at his own stupidity and foolishness. He should have come to see the Stars years ago!

Keith shivered as another wisp of cold air tickled his wet skin. He brought his hands to his arms and rubbed some warmth back into them. Despite his discomfort, Keith couldn't look away from the night sky. Being kidnapped by Humans, getting injured, having to stay on land for ages while worrying about his People and family…

Maybe it was all worth it, just to see the Stars.

And…

To meet Lance?

…

Was Lance better than the Stars, or were the Stars better than Lance?

Keith suddenly jumped from his thoughts as he felt something soft covering his shoulders. He whipped his face around to Lance, who had taken off his jacket and was draping it around the Mermyt.

"Sorry!" Lance flinched, clearly sorry that he had disturbed Keith. "You just look really cold. I hadn't thought about that when I asked you to join me."

Keith loosened from his defensive posture and brought his hands up to the jacket, pulling it further around his body.

"Thanks." He muttered, his gaze flittering to the ground. "But won't you get cold?"

"Me? Nah." Lance scoffed lightly with a wave of a hand. "I grew up on this beach. I've been out millions of times before without a jacket."

Lance then glanced away, thankful that it was dark out or else Keith would certainly have seen him blush.

"Besides…" Lance said quietly. "You need it far more than I do."

Keith inhaled sharply at the comment.

 _Does he…care for me…that much?_ Keith thought giddily.

Keith turned back to the sky and tightened his grip on Lance's jacket. The material was thick and soft. When the breeze brushed against again, the cold didn't even reach him. That realisation brought a softer smile to his face as he looked back to Lance. His Human companion was now looking at the Stars with great admiration and intensity. His face was relaxed with a contented smile and eyes were wide and dazzling in the starlight. He…looked beautiful.

 _I know what's better._ Keith concluded. _The Stars in Lance's eyes are best._

Perhaps, once he was home, sneaking up to the surface would all be worth it if he could get to see something that reminds him of Lance.

* * *

Two Days Later

Pidge met up with Hunk at the fish market. The smell was thick and painful, but Hunk had insisted on personally inspecting the fresh fish so that Keith would have only the best specimens. When Hunk fed his friends, he fed them the best food. He did not stand for too raw or too ripe. He did not stand for over-cooked or under-cooked. He only used the most fresh and optimum ingredients for his dishes. If it wasn't Hunk, Pidge would be yelling about how anyone who wanted to meet in a fish market was either really hated you, loved the smell of raw fish or had no sense of smell at all.

"Are you sure Keith won't eat us by mistake?" Pidge asked sarcastically, sniffing her clothes.

"He won't!" Hunk replied with a wave of a hand. "He seemed really friendly and I think he likes us – at least a little bit. Besides, I trust Lance to keep him away."

"Yeah, I guess." Pidge sighed.

When they arrived at the beach, Lance wasn't there to meet them. How odd…Lance would normally meet them on his porch and then walk them down the beach to the rocks. Unless…

"Maybe he's already at the cave." Hunk wondered.

"Maybe he has a thing for Keith." Pidge said nonchalantly.

"Eh!?" Hunk choked. "Lance!? With Keith!?"

"I mean, he is a pretty guy." Pidge grinned. "And you know how Lance is with pretty guys."

"Yeah, but, Lance and Keith are two completely different species!" Hunk gawked. "Plus, there's Keith's overprotective brother. I'm pretty sure he would scare the two of them apart."

"Oh yeah…" Pidge cringed. "He'd probably kill Lance if the two of them so much as kissed. Blergh!"

"What do you think kissing a Merman would be like?" Hunk wondered aloud.

"Ew!" Pidge cried. "Don't ask that! That's weird!"

"Would it be slimy?" Hunk continued. "Or dry? Or just like a regular human?"

"Well, you can ask Lance if he ever kisses Keith." Pidge said. "If he's not killed by Shiro, that is."

"I suppose." Hunk sighed. Then he heard something. "Do you hear that?"

"Yeah." Pidge drawled as she drew to a halt before the rocks.

Both Pidge and Hunk stood and listened to the excited voices coming from the rocks.

"…named after the Romans' Gods? Seriously? I heard that those guys were a little wacko."

"How wacko?"

"Like 'whack-people-across-the-face-as-a-greeting' wacko."

"Pretty sure that was just that one guy."

"Hey, I said it was something I just heard. I'm not that old!"

"Woah, hey! That's not what I was saying! Geez, calm down a little!"

"Sorry. But you Humans are weird as well! I mean, you named only one planet after a woman!"

"And I completely agree! There are plenty of gorgeous mythical women to name them after. Oh well, there's not much we can do about that now. Renaming a planet would mess up everyone's learning in school. Imagine having to deal with Jupiter being renamed to Bob!"

"Hmm…I guess you've got a point. Still, that would be funny!"

Pidge and Hunk weren't sure how they would find Keith and Lance, but Keith being perched between Lance's legs pointing at a page in a book probably wasn't their first idea. Pidge couldn't see their faces since they were turned away, but she could probably imagine based on their curious comments and bickering. Hunk recognised the book as one of the countless Astronomy books Lance owned.

"Bob? Really?" Keith scoffed. "Come on! Something more creative?"

"Creative, huh?" Lance murmured thoughtfully. "Okay then…how about-"

"KEITH AND LANCE SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Aaaah!"

Both Lance and Keith jumped at Pidge's sudden outburst, though Lance released a high-pitched screech. Even Hunk jumped and stumbled away from the screaming girl in fright!

"WHAT THE F**K PIDGE!?" Lance yelled at her indignantly while sporting an impressive blush on his cheeks. Keith's face was also blushed, but he opted to keep his redness hidden.

"Sorry!" Pidge cackled, hunched over with her hands on her knees. "It was just too irresistible!"

"Still, Pidge, really!?" Hunk panted with a hand over his heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Whatever!" Pidge chuckled. She plopped herself next to Lance and Keith and pulled her laptop out of it. "I don't hear anyone denying it anyway."

"Wait, wait, wait…" Lance laughed uncomfortable. "You think me…and Keith…?"

"That outcome is impossible for multitudinous reasons and you know it." Keith replied, his calm and unattached composure restored. "Besides, Shiro would probably bite his arm off."

"Precisely!" Lance gestured, his face starting to return to its usual colour. "So there!"

"Also, you smell too delicious to take seriously." Keith said, looking squarely at Pidge.

Hunk cried out and jumped away from Keith and closer to Lance before sitting down.

"Really funny." Pidge glared at the Mermyt. "Hunk insisted on picking you up some breakfast from the fish market."

"Well, nothing but the best for our guest." Hunk explained. He handed Keith the bag of fresh fish for him to expect. He sniffed at it and hummed, obviously pleased.

"Smells nice." Keith praised, smiling at Hunk. "Thanks."

"No problem." Hunk smiled back. "Also, just to be clear, the whole thing about us smelling delicious was just a joke, right?"

"No." Keith replied. "You do smell delicious, but I'm not going to eat you, if that's what you mean."

"Yeah Hunk, calm down buddy." Lance said. "If you suddenly walked up to me one day smelling like garlic knots, I would say that you smelled delicious too! But you know I wouldn't eat you."

"I'm amazed no one's eaten Hunk already." Pidge commented as she typed something on her laptop. "He's the sweetest cinnamon bun around."

"Okay, can we stop talking about eating me now?" Hunk asked. "I'm beginning to get a little uncomfortable and I'm getting weird flashes of Attack on Titan."

"Yeah, we can stop." Pidge said. "By the way Keith, your tail looks better today."

"My brother came a couple of days ago." Keith responded.

"Yeah, he pulled me into the sea as well and held me in a chokehold." Lance commented.

"What? Really!?" Hunk gasped. "Yeah, but he didn't hurt me. He may look like he's made of stone, but deep down, he's just a big softie."

"Don't say that to his face." Keith warned Lance before turning back to Pidge. "He then came back yesterday with some Shifa Weed. We use it as a healing agent."

"Is that so?" Pidge mumbled thoughtfully before typing down the information. "What other types of seaweed do you have? What kind of abilities do they have? Do Mermyts ever get sick?"

"Oh dear." Hunk sighed. "We're going to be here a while."

* * *

"Shiro, I think that going every day is too much." Princess Allura said. "The Kingdom needs you just as much as Keith does. Besides, you think that Keith is safe with this Lance, right?"

"As safe as he can be." Shiro admitted reluctantly.

"Then stop worrying about him so much." Allura insisted. "I can understand you visiting him every now and then while he recovers, but we can't afford for you to be absent for so long every day! Haggar and Zarkon are still out there and I have no doubt that their planning something."

"My men are just as qualified to take on Zarkon as I am." Shiro said. "Zarkon may be a big threat to our people, but Keith being exploited to the Human population would be even worse."

"But we both know that won't happen."

Shiro sighed but remained silent. As much as he hated Humans, he couldn't deny that he somewhat trusted Lance, for some reason.

"I just…" Shiro choked. "I just need to know he's safe."

"And I understand that." Allura placed a hand on his shoulder. "I care about him too. But after today's visit, I want you to visit every few days instead. We need you here at the Kingdom and Keith doesn't need you on his tail for the rest of his life. He's grown up now. He's independent and rebellious. He needs his own space…and freedom in his choices."

"I know." Shiro sighed again. "It's just really hard to accept. It only seems like yesterday he was a little guppy playing hide and seek in the seaweed. He would giggle too loudly and give away his position, but I would always play it out for a long time, pretending I couldn't find him. And when I did find him, I would sneak up on him and grab him in a tight hug and spin around with him. He would smile and laugh and burrow into my chest and tell me he loved me."

Shiro rubbed a hand over his eyes and smiled.

"And now…he's all grown up. He's always running off and keeping his own little secrets. In a way it's heart-breaking." He turned to Allura. "But you're right. I need to let up on him a little. I'll try, I promise."

"Good." Allura smiled, relieved. "Now go tell him that."

After a quick peck on the lips, Shiro swam away.

* * *

"How are our plans going?" Zarkon asked.

"Today, the third Shield Stone will be infiltrated." Haggar replied dutifully. "After that, only five will remain."

"Excellent." Zarkon smiled. "Our plan can be put into action by the end of the week."

"Unfortunately, Sire, that may not be the case." Haggar informed him. "It would seem that the Princess has convinced the Captain to reduce his visits from every day to every few days. His brother should be due to return in about eight days, based on what I have heard about his condition."

"Then we will increase the number of infiltrations at a time." Zarkon concluded. "The next time he leaves, we will get two done, then three. Once your power has charged, we can take down their defences. Let my Commanders know."

"Vrepit Sa, Sire."

* * *

"Okay, that's all of them." Pidge announced, closing her laptop.

"Oh, thank goodness." Lance cried out in relief and flopped onto his back. "I thought you were going to be interrogating him forever!"

"It was only two hours." Keith said.

"Same difference!"

"Well, thanks for this Keith." Pidge said. "I can guarantee that this information will be kept under lock and key! Besides, it's not like anyone would believe this anyway. Well, other than Cryptid Hunters."

"'Cryptid Hunters'?" Keith asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah." Hunk explained. "Their a group of people online who believe in Cryptids and mythical creatures, such as Bigfoot and Mothman. They're pretty much the only people in the world who would believe this since the Government would just brush it off as some internet nonsense."

"Even so," Keith replied. "I would really appreciate it if you could keep all this information secret. My brother would kill me…"

"No problem." Pidge assured him sincerely. "Besides, I don't want any trouble for your People."

"I should hope not."

"Gah!" Everyone jumped, but Lance and Keith relaxed when they spotted Shiro poking his head out of the water.

"Oh, hey Shiro." Keith waved nervously.

"Hey…" Shiro replied, his hard eyes flitting between Pidge and Hunk judgingly. Hunk began sweating but kept his ground. Pidge, on the other hand, adjusted her glasses and leaned in closer.

"Huh…" She muttered.

Shiro glanced at her again, but this time, his eyes widened, as if in recognition.

"I-I know you from somewhere…" He exclaimed.

"Me? Really?" Pidge sat up surprised and pointed at herself. "I highly doubt that. If I'd met a Merman before, I'm really sure I would remember that."

"No, I have met you before!" Shiro insisted, rubbing his head slightly as he recalled a memory. "You and an older man were sinking, and I dragged you both back up to the surface. I helped you both latch onto a large chunk of wood and then pushed you close enough to land to be rescued. Don't you remember?"

"H-how long ago was this exactly?" Pidge asked.

"I'm not sure about Human years," Shiro replied. "But I think it was about ten years ago."

Pidge gasped.

"Hey, Pidge?" Lance exclaimed. "Wasn't that about the time the Kerberos went down? Matt and your dad were on that ship, weren't they?"

"Yeah, they were!" Pidge replied. "They never said how they survived, but we didn't care because we were so happy that they were alive!"

Pidge looked back at Shiro with wide eyes.

"It was you!" She gasped. "You saved them!"

"Shiro saving Humans?" Keith asked, his eyes also wide. "But I thought you hated them."

"This was before what happened to Mum and Dad." Shiro clarified. "I couldn't just let them drown when I could help them."

"It was you the entire time!" Pidge grinned. "Without you, Dad and Matt would never have come back home! GET OVER HERE SO I CAN HUG YOU!"

"Woah!" Shiro jumped and put his hands up. "Wait a minute-"

"Please!?" Pidge began crying. "I really don't want to get my laptop wet by-oh, you know what? Screw it!"

Pidge flung her laptop into Lance's lap and leapt at Shiro, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Shiro froze, completely shell-shocked.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Pidge bawled.

"Uh, you're welcome." Shiro responded, still a little unnerved. He recovered enough to return the hug at least.

Keith, Hunk and Lance just smiled. To think that Shiro was the one to save Pidge's brother and father, and now they had saved Shiro's brother. Small world, eh?

"Sorry." Pidge apologised after a while, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I must have really startled you."

"No, it's ok." Shiro reassured her. "I can't blame you for being grateful towards me."

"I told you the Humans I was with were fine." Keith said smugly.

"Yeah, yeah." Shiro grumbled as he helped push Pidge back up onto the rock. He then turned to the remaining mystery Human. "So, you must be Hunk, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Hunk replied and held out a hand. "Pleased to meet you."

Shiro looked at the hand for a few seconds before taking shaking it in greeting.

"Hunk is the one who's been feeding me." Keith said. "Pidge is the one who's been 'interrogating' me."

"I'm just a genuinely curious person." Pidge commented offhandedly as she took her laptop from Lance and put it in her bag. "I promise that this information will be kept strictly classified."

Shiro stared at her for a while before smiling softly: "I'll hold you to that."

Hunk then yawned widely and blinked sleepily.

"Well, I'm starting to get sleepy." His stomach then rumbled loudly. "And hungry. Besides, I need to finish packing before. When are you leaving Keith?"

"Some time next week." Keith replied.

"So we won't be seeing you again." Pidge stated. "Well, that's a shame. Oh well, guess you'll just have to come back and visit us."

"Yeah, I guess." Keith sighed sadly as Hunk and Pidge eased their bodies off the ground.

"Ugh." Pidge groaned. "Now I've gotta walk home in soaking shoes."

"Aww, poor you." Lance pouted. This earned him a whack to the head.

"Well, we should go." Hunk said. "Bye Keith. Nice meeting you Shiro."

Keith, Lance and Shiro waved goodbye as the two walked off down the beach and back home.

"They're nice." Shiro said once they were gone.

"Told you so." Keith responded cheekily.

"Yeah." Shiro agreed with a sigh. "You're actually right about a lot of things…including about me being a bit over-protective."

"A bit?" Keith repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, a lot." Shiro groaned. "And I need to stop as well."

Keith gasped sharply and stared at his brother with wide eyes.

"W-what are you saying?" He stammered.

"I'm saying that you're grown up and ready to continue without me on your tail all the time." Shiro explained. "You're old enough to make your own choices and I need to accept that…starting off by reducing my visits from every day to every three days."

"Finally." Keith smiled relieved. "Like I keep saying, the Kingdom needs you."

"I know." Shiro groaned. "It was just hard to accept that you need your own freedom now. But don't think this means I'm letting you off all on your own straight away! We'll start off with a few boundaries and then start removing those boundaries one by one."

"Eh…" Keith moaned. "I should have known it was too good to be true."

Lance just snorted and laughed.

* * *

 **Yay, more story filler! Klance is developing, Zarkon's and Haggar's plans are beginning to unfold and Pidge and Hunk are off on their holidays. What will happen next? Shiro is with Allura in this fic because I started writing it before DreamWorks revealed Adam. I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THEY KILLED OFF ADAM! D;**

 **Also, I recently binge-watched _Yuri on Ice_ and _Attack on Titans_ and all I can say is: WHAT THE HECK HAVE I BEEN MISSING!? I'm so glad I finally watched them and I can't wait to find out what Season 8 of Voltron will hold. **

**Until the next chapter, my wonderful readers!**

 **WarrynSparklegem**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry that this chapter took so long to write! Now that I'm in my A-Level year, I'll be having to put more time towards my studies. Thankfully, I'm on a train right now, enjoying a four-hour journey from Newcastle. Plenty of time to finish a chapter, I think. So, what will become of our two boys? Will their love prevail or fade? Now then, on with the story!**

* * *

(Writing about everything that happened over the last eight days of Keith's time at the Coast would have just gotten boring, so pretend that there was a montage of Keith and Lance hanging out, as well as Zarkon's and Haggar's plan developing.)

* * *

Seven Days Later

Tomorrow, Keith would finally be able to go home. He couldn't wait! He desperately wanted to be deep beneath the ocean again, swimming through forests of kelp and zipping through caves and arches. He missed the colourful shells and fish that he could find near the seabed. He missed swimming and playing with his dolphin and seahorse friends. He missed his home and was ecstatic to be returning soon!

On the other fin, he would also miss Lance.

It was…strange.

Two weeks ago, Keith wouldn't have been caught dead in a Human's presence. Now he had willingly spent time with Lance every day he was stuck at the Coast. He sometimes, Lance took him for a short paddle just outside of the rock pools. He would always caution him from swimming to quickly or far away from the land. Keith would laugh and splash him, telling him to quit being such a party pooper. Other times, Lance would bring some books over and read them to him. Aside from his Space books, he would bring picture books with photographs of iconic landmarks from across the world. Keith particularly liked the mountains and rainforests.

In return, he would tell Lance about the marine life around his home and some small things about his People's culture, such as their music and celebration traditions. Lance found it rather funny that Mermyts 'married' by biting each other on the tail and then pulling on each other's hair – that was up until Keith revealed that they actually just exchanged pieces of jewellery. Mermyts who wished to wed each other would separately search for the most beautiful shell or pebble they could find and then make an accessory out of it to exchange at their ceremony. Mostly, these accessories were hair-pins, necklaces or bracelets.

Their favourite pastime however was stargazing. They would lay on the rocks throughout most of a clear night and talk to each other. One of the topics they found the most amusing was each other's childhood endeavours; they'd talk about how they used to sneak away from home to play or look for an adventure. Keith often ended up scratching and grazing himself on rocks and coral. Lance usually ended up falling and hurting his arms and knees. Once he had fallen from a high rock and broken his arm (which Keith found "positively revolting".)!

It was fun though. With Lance, Keith could just relax and have fun without having to worry about Shiro worrying about him! He got to learn and discover so many new things about the World he couldn't reach. But most of all, Keith had fun because Lance was just…Lance. He was cheerful and witty, and even though his jokes were cheesy, Keith couldn't help but laugh because Lance just fired them out with so much confidence!

" _Hey Keith! What do you call a fish with no eyes?"_

" _What?"_

" _What do you call a fish with no eyes?"_

" _Uh…dinner?"_

" _No silly! A fish with no eyes is a fsh."_

"… _a fsh?"_

Even now, days after he first heard the joke, Keith would still snort, and his mouth would turn up in a supressed smile, causing him to raise a hand to hide it. It was strange how much he had come to like Lance. He liked his jokes, his laughs, his smiles, his sun-kissed and smooth skin, his wild chestnut hair…his deep-ocean eyes that would light up with joy like a sky full of stars.

Keith groaned and buried his face in his hands. As much as he wanted to go home, he didn't want to leave Lance. He liked him. His only comfort was that Shiro would let him visit the Human (so long as he was cautious) every now and then. He could imagine the two of them laid next to each other on the sand with the waves climbing on and off them. Perhaps, one day, he could even bring Lance down to the Kingdom with him. Surely Allura could be convinced once she knew how nice Lance was. She may even be swayed enough to let Pidge and Hunk down as well! Although…

Keith winced when he thought about how Pidge would react to the Kingdom. He could imagine her bombarding the civilians with a million questions all about their home and lifestyles. It would probably get annoying…and scary. Hunk, on the other hand, would be friendly and introduce himself politely with little waves and handshakes. He'd be more interested in the cuisine than anything else. And Lance would bug Keith to hang out with him and give him a tour of the Kingdom. Just the two of them, swimming through the kelp, out of sight of everyone, with the silky leaves tickling their skins. They could accidentally get tangled up together and have to wait for someone to come cut them out. Just the two of them, pressed together…for a long time…

"NONONONONONO!" Keith muttered to himself, slapping his reddening to pull him out of his thoughts. "Don't go there!"

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness."

Keith looked over at Lance, who was laid down with his Biology work around him. Keith was helping him with the questions on Marine life.

"I'm not going mad." Keith pouted, folding his arms. "I was just…thinking."

"What about?" Lance asked offhandedly, writing in his notebook.

"Tomorrow." Keith replied.

The scratches of Lance's pen stopped suddenly, and silence fell over them for a few seconds before the pen began moving again.

"What about tomorrow?" Lance asked with a strained voice.

"I was just thinking about how much I would miss the Coast." Keith sighed.

"What would you miss?" Lance asked, his voice sounding somewhat hopeful.

"Well," Keith replied, playfully thoughtful. "I would miss the peace and quiet of my rockpool."

"Is that so? What else?"

"I would miss being able to hear the crashing of the waves."

"And?"

"And being able to see the Stars."

"Oh, come on Keith!" Lance exclaimed, his voice filled with mock hurt. "What about me?"

"Hmm…" Keith pretended to think really hard, putting a finger on his chin. "I think I might miss you a little."

"Just a little?" Lance grinned teasingly.

"Okay." Keith laughed. "A little more than a little."

Lance chuckled, then frowned and glanced down.

"I…I would miss you more than a little as well." He confessed.

The confession lead to a short awkward silence between the two which was broken by Blue leaping up and rushing along the shore, snapping at sea foam and leaping over waves. The two watched her for a while.

"You'll come back to visit though, won't you?" Lance asked quietly.

"Of course!" Keith exclaimed, feeling a pang of hurt at Lance's lack of trust. "We're friends Lance. I want to see you again."

* * *

" _We're friends Lance."_

That one phrase echoed through Lance's mind for the rest of the day, even as he showered that evening. They were friends. Lance couldn't deny it. They talked about themselves and taught each other new things. They played and had fun. They laughed and smiled together, unlike when they had first met, when they were tip-toeing around each other. But it still didn't feel right. Don't get him wrong – Lance was happy to be friends with Keith! But, somewhere deep down, he felt unsatisfied with being just friends. It almost felt like…

Lance startled and nearly slipped on the soaking ceramic. It felt like…he had a _crush_! Actually, scratch that – he DID have a crush! On _Keith_!

Lance screeched and buried his hands in his hair. Thankfully, it wasn't audible over the sound of the rushing water. It was so obvious! Now that he thought about it, images of Keith's bold violet eyes and sparkling smiles had plagued his mind for the past week! More than that, he had thought about the softness of his pale skin and the callousness of his crimson scales. He kept thinking about how his mullet danced in the wind like a ballerina. And if he was daydreaming about Keith's mullet, then the crush must be a strong one!

 _But,_ Lance thought. _A relationship between us just wouldn't work. He's a Merman, I'm a Human. One can't stay in the other's habitat for too long._

Lance's heart strummed sadly. Damn, he'd really fallen hard for this one.

" _Hey Keith, do you have a plaster?"_

" _No. Why?"_

" _Because I scraped my knee falling for you!"_

Lance had flirted with Keith for a bit of fun but judging by the way a blush had ignited over Keith's face, the Mermyt had taken it a bit too literal.

 _Which means he must be into me at least a little, right?_

"Gaaaaah!" Lance groaned hoarsely.

This was nothing like the small attractions he felt towards some girls or boys he'd met in school. It was torturous being away from Keith for so long. It felt like his heart was pulling in his chest, trying to lead him back to the cave, nakedness be damned. This crush was stronger than anything Lance had felt before and he had no idea what to do! Should he talk to Keith about it? Should he just stay quiet and never bring it up? Lance chuckled at how pathetic he was being right now; here he was, at the height of his masculine allure, and he was breaking down all because of some small crush. This was really eating him up. He knew he couldn't talk to Keith about it yet, and his siblings would either laugh at him or not understand him at all.

That left just one person…

* * *

"What's wrong Alejandro?"

"Huh?" Lance looked up from his dinner plate. His siblings had already finished their meals and were off doing whatever it was they did after dinner. His Mama was stood over him, staring at him and his unfinished meal. "Nothing…too important."

"Lance, you've spent the whole of dinner just pushing your food around your plate." Vanessa gently scolded her son. "Whatever your problem is, you were thinking about it so much that you didn't even notice your siblings leave or try to talk to you. So, what's wrong?"

Looked back down at his food and scooped some into his mouth. As he slowly chewed, he debated on whether he should lie or be honest. If there was one person he could rely on for help and support, it was his Mama.

"Well," Lance said after gulping down his food. "I need some advice. About my…feelings."

"Feelings, huh?" Vanessa chuckled as she pulled out the chair next to Lance and sat down. She bent down slightly so that she could see her son's hidden face.

"Yeah, feelings." Lance replied nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "There's this person I met recently, about a couple of weeks ago. We've become close rather quickly, and tomorrow, they have to go back home. They said they'll keep in tough, but I don't want them to go."

"It's normal to not want your friends to leave." Vanessa pointed out.

"It's not because of that." Lance blushed. "I…I have this really _huge_ crush on them. Like, _huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge_!"

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuge, huh?" Vanessa smiled gently. "Is that so? Well, what do they think of you?"

"They like me." Lance replied. "At least, I'm sure they do. They said that we're friends. But, sometimes, when they look at me when they think I'm not looking, they'll stare intently and blush for no reason! They even laugh at my jokes and blush at my flirts!"

"Sounds like they really like you too." Vanessa pointed out.

"Yeah, but they leave tomorrow." Lance sighed sadly. "They live really far away. I'll only be able to see them every now and then."

"Which is a real shame," Vanessa sighed deeply. "Since they clearly make you happy."

"Huh?" Lance inquired, sitting up straight.

"I'm assuming that this crush of yours is the one you've been spending so much time with recently." Vanessa grinned knowingly. "You've been spending more time outside than you ever have, and you love that beach! Perhaps you've come to love this person more."

"…love?" Lance whispered mostly to himself.

"And I don't blame you." Vanessa chuckled. He's quite the looker.

"Eh!?" Lance exclaimed worriedly. "What do you mean!?"

"I can just about make out the two of you at the end of the beach." Vanessa explained. "It's hard to make out details, but the two of you look like you have fun. You must really love him if you're sneaking out at night to see him."

"You know about that too!?" Lance cried.

"Of course I do!" Vanessa huffed. "You thought I couldn't hear you bumping into the table at night?"

"Oh." Lance blushed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay Lance," Vanessa assured him, before looking at him more seriously. "Just as long as he's not part of some gang or group of troublemakers. If so, I don't want you getting into any trouble with him."

"Mama, it's okay!" Lance giggled. "He's not part of anything like that."

"Oh, good then." Vanessa sat back, relieved. "So, what's his name?"

"Keith."

"Keith, huh?" Vanessa smiled dreamily. "Keith McClain…has a nice ring to it."

"Mama!" Lance screeched incredulously.

"Hey, my son is in love." Vanessa huffed. "I'm allowed to hope that he'll one day live a happy life with them!"

Lance's face fell once again: "I'm not so sure about that. We probably wouldn't see each other often enough to keep up a relationship. Maybe I shouldn't tell him…"

"Would you regret it?" Vanessa asked him. "Would you regret telling him."

"I don't know." Lance confessed. "I would if he said no."

"And if he says yes?" Vanessa questioned. "If you don't tell him, and he does love you back as well, you'll never find out. But it's your choice. Go see him off tomorrow. Whatever you decide to do, I will support you all the way."

Vanessa laid a hand on Lance's cheek and then leaned in to kiss his forehead.

"Your happiness is up to you, Mijo." Vanessa told him. "If you see an opportunity, you must decide to either take it or let it pass you by, knowing full well that it will never present itself to you again."

"Thanks Mama." Lance smiled, kissing her on the cheek. "I feel better now. Still a bit conflicted, but better."

"Good." Vanessa said as she moved towards the sink. "Now hurry up and finish your dinner! I need to wash your plate up."

* * *

That evening, Lance strolled along the sand with a duvet and a pillow to spend his final night with Keith. The setting Sun bathed the beach and sea with a fiery orange that ignited the sand. Lance's head was faced downwards as he considered his two options; confess his feelings to Keith or keep silent. He had to choose. Whichever he decided to go with would define their relationship for the rest of their lives. Just as he was about to go crazy, he spotted something in the sand…and his mind was made up.

Keith stared at his lap as he sat in his pool. Lance would be arriving soon for their nightly hangout. He knew he had a choice to make; tell Lance that he liked him more than just a friend or leave their relationship as just friends. It was hard to decide. A relationship like that wouldn't work when they were worlds away. Maybe he could talk to Shiro about it…

"Hey Keith!"

Lance appeared around the corner. Keith pulled himself up the ledge to sit, ready to be lifted up.

"Hi Lance." Keith smiled back.

Not much else was said as Lance carried Keith outside. He set Keith down on the duvet before sitting down next to him. The Stars glinted, as if greeting them like old friends. The two of them sat shoulder to shoulder in silence, merely gazing at the Stars. Their minds, however, were elsewhere, pondering over what must be done.

"Hey, Lance-"

"Keith-"

Awkward laughter broke out and faded off.

"You go first." Lance offered quickly.

"Okay." Keith breathed deeply. "I've wanted to say something about earlier…about us being friends."

Lance's heart froze in fear. Did he actually regret their friendship after all?

"You know when I said we were friends?" Keith asked.

"Yeah…" Lance replied hoarsely.

 _Tellhimtellhimtellhimtellhimtellhimtellhimtellhimtellhimtellhim-_

"Well, I've realised that…I really am glad to have met you." Keith confessed. "The time I have spent with you has been the most fund and explorational of my whole life! I really want us to stay friends, no matter what happens."

Keith smiled up at Lance, whose heart skipped a few beats. He also felt a phantom punch in his stomach as he comprehended the meaning behind the Mermyt's words; he was happy to be friends and _only_ friends. Did this mean that a love confession would ruin the precious treasure they had?

"What did you want to tell me?" Keith asked.

"Uh…" Lance swallowed thickly before forcing a smile. "I-I was going to say the same thing. Meeting you has turned my Summer from simply boring to a new adventure, even though I didn't go anywhere. Thanks for everything Keith."

"You too." Keith replied.

Lance slept next to Keith that night under the Stars, his hand constantly returning to his pocket to surround his gift for the Mermyt.

* * *

Shiro and a few of his most trusted guards were preparing to swim out to the Coast. He tried to convince Allura that the two brothers wouldn't need an armed guard, but the Princess was concerned about Human activity and Keith's habits of wandering off.

"We can afford a few guards for an hour." Allura said. "Besides, I will be surrounded by plenty of other guards at the Coronation Celebration. You'll be back before anything too troublesome can occur."

"I hope so." Shiro sighed. "Your Coronation Celebration would be the perfect time for Zarkon to strike; everyone congregated in one area. He will try to strike any time before your Coronation."

"You won't be gone for long." Allura stated confidently. "Now get going! The sooner you get your brother, the sooner you can return."

"Yes, Your Highness." Shiro bowed playfully. He then swam off swiftly with his small guard towards the Coast. He and Keith would soon be back in the Kingdom, safe and sound. Nothing would happen while they were away.

* * *

Keith flipped and jerked his tail as he floated in the water. Lance floated next to him. They were still fairly close to the shore, but they'd swam out to deeper waters to wait for Shiro.

"It'll probably be a week or two before I'm able to come back." Keith was saying. "I'll try and send you messages with some seahorses, but I'm sure Allura and some of the other Mermyts will have their questions first."

"That's okay." Lance reassured him. "I'll be here all Summer. No need to rush."

"I'm just kinda worried about you though." Keith said. "How will you survive without me keeping you company?"

"I've got Blue." Lance replied. "I've got my siblings. I'll find something to do. What about you though? You gonna be alright?"

"I'll be fine." Keith smiled. "I've got the coral reefs. And I highly doubt my friends will be leaving me along any time soon."

"Yeah, well don't go getting yourself caught in any more fishing nets." Lance said teasingly.

"I don't plan to." Keith growled, blushing. "Besides, that wasn't my fault, remember?"

"I know." Lance said quietly. "I just don't think you'll be as lucky as you were this time."

Keith winced. He had to admit that Lance was right; things could have gone a lot worse for him if he hadn't flung himself from that boat and been washed up on Lance's shore. What if another human had found him? It really could have been worse for him.

"Well," Keith announced. "If it makes you feel better, I promise that I won't go getting myself caught in any more Human contraptions."

"I'll hold you to that." Lance said.

"Me too."

Lance screamed and flailed, dipping beneath the waves momentarily before resurfacing and turning to growl at the offender.

"Not funny Shiro."

Shiro was floating behind where Lance was, his arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"I thought you would have been used to my entrances by now." He commented.

"He hasn't known you for that long." Keith muttered in the Human's defence. "And your greetings don't have to be so…sudden either."

"I'll take jump scares over being dragged into the water any day." Lance concurred.

"I'll keep that in mind for next time." Shiro grinned dangerously.

Lance shivered. This was definitely an 'overprotective brother' act – he's pulled it off himself a few times before. H2e shuddered to think how defensive Shiro would be if he and Keith had started a relationship.

"Well," Keith sighed, prompting Lance to look at him. "I guess this is goodbye."

"More of a 'see you later'." Lance corrected the Mermyt.

"Sure." Keith smiled, then punched Lance gently in the arm. Lance said that it was a 'friendly gesture among bros'. "See you around then."

With a final smile at each other, Keith dove under the waves and swam deeper with powerful flicks of his tail.

"He'll come back to visit you." Shiro assured him. "I'll make sure of it. I'm in your debt Lance."

And then Shiro disappeared as well. Lance floated in the water for a little bit longer before coming to his senses and swimming back to shore before his strength failed him. He sat on the beach for a while, watching the waves coming in and going out. Lance couldn't help but feel like he'd lost a part of himself.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out (what was) his gift for Keith. It was a necklace, made with a bit of string and a smooth stone of Red Jasper. Lance thought that it would match Keith's fiery personality and remind him of the beautiful sunsets they'd sometimes watched. Now it was a reminder for Lance; of the time he'd spent with the raven-haired Mermyt and the time he wouldn't be able to have with him.

If you were to ask Lance how he handled this, he would tell you that he handled it like a man, calm and collected, with the full knowledge that he would be able to move on from this more-than-a-little crush. However, this would be a lie because he broke down into tears and wept silently, subconsciously holding the stone close to his heart.

* * *

Shiro glanced over at Keith worriedly. His brother had been rather silent and distant since leaving the surface. He looked almost solemn.

"What's wrong?" Shiro asked.

"Huh?" Keith murmured, breaking out of his stupor.

"You're thinking. Deeply." Shiro frowned. "Whatever it is you're thinking about, it's making you kind of…sad. Don't bother trying to lie to me Keith. What's wrong?"

Keith sighed and faced forwards again, staring at the movements of the guards in front of them. He knew that he couldn't get away with lying to Shiro, so he kept his mouth shut. His eyes, on the other hand, said everything.

"It's about Lance, isn't it?" Shiro sighed.

Keith flinched. It was answer enough.

"Are you worried about him for some reason?"

"No…" Keith replied.

"Was it something you said to him, or he to you?"

"…not really?" Keith sighed. "It's…hard to explain. I feel like it's going to be weird being back home after spending so much time on the Coast. I was constantly feeling the wind on my face and looking up at the sky. Now I'm back in the ocean, it feels…different. It's gonna take a while to get used to being back in the water."

"You won't be missing it for too long." Shiro said. "Once you've settled down again, I'm sure you'll be swimming up there again all willi-nilly."

"Yeah." Keith snorted. "I'm not in too much of a hurry though. I have missed the kelp and the coral."

"Just the kelp and the coral?" Shiro asked.

"I may have missed you as well." Keith grinned.

"I missed you too." Shiro smiled, wrapping an arm around his younger brother. "It's been really quiet without you. The guards have missed you too."

"I would have thought that they would enjoy the peace and quiet."

"They did at first," Shiro replied. "But then they got bored. They actually missed me sending them to search for you whenever you had disappeared."

"Well, I don't think they'll have to look for me anymore." Keith said as the team neared the end of trench-edge. The Kingdom was just over the small out-cropping of rocks. "I fully intend to let you know when I'm going somewhere. I was just lucky that Red managed to find me on the shoreline."

And, just at that moment, Red came swimming towards them at bullet speed, squeaking urgently and terrified.

"Huh?" Keith gasped. "Red, slow down. I can't understand you."

"Holy quiznack…"

The horrified exhale came from one of the guards. Keith swam up next to him, and his heart clenched at the sight before him. The Kingdom's protective barrier was down and grey-skinned Mermyts with black tails and purple armour surrounded the outskirts.

"Galra." Shiro growled. "Zarkon came to the Celebration after all."

"It looks like they've already overtaken the Kingdom sir." One of the guards reported.

"Sir, what should we do?" Another guard asked.

Shiro glanced over the scene before him, analysing every little detail. After a few seconds, his chest deflated, and his eyes hardened.

"We must retreat." He solemnly ordered. "We're out-numbered. We need to hide somewhere and come up with a plan. But where?"

The guards suddenly glowed purple and screamed in agony before going limp and floating in the water unconscious. Keith and Shiro whipped around and their eyes widened in horror.

"Haggar…" Shiro breathed in dread.

"Captain." Haggar greeted him. "I'm glad you could join us. We've been waiting for you."

"Why are you here?" Shiro growled dangerously. His hand discreetly reached for the sword on his waist.

"The Galra are here to claim what is rightfully theirs." Haggar snarled. "It was pathetically easy to infiltrate the Kingdom during your absences. Ironic, isn't it? The Brother who kept you going is also the one who brought about your downfall."

Keith gasped quietly as guilt churned his stomach. She was right; if he hadn't disappeared and divided Shiro's attention, the Galra wouldn't have been able to take over!

"No matter now though." Haggar continued. "This land and its throne used to belong to Emperor Zarkon before that Demon Alfor forced us out and gave it to his beloved Alteans. We have reclaimed our land. We have won!"

"You were forced out because you were practising dark magic, Witch." Shiro hissed hatefully. "You _will_ be driven out again!"

Shiro drew his sword and charged at the Witch, who dodged and flung a spell at him. Shiro deflected the attack with his sword and charged again. Keith was frozen where he floated. He'd heard of the cruelty of the Galran Druids from before the Kingdom was liberated by King Alfor. Now, it seemed, those dark days were to return. Keith grit his teeth in determination. He _couldn't_ let that happen! He seized a sharp piece of coral from his left and charged at the Witch while her back was to him. Haggar, whoever, sensed the attack and promptly blasted Keith back towards the rocks before being overrun by Shiro again. Keith hit the rocks with a grunt, earning a scratch on his arm.

"Shiro…" Keith whimpered.

"Keith, go!" Shiro grunted as he deflected another spell.

"But-"

"It's too dangerous for you here!" Shiro yelled. "You have to go now!"

"But-"

"NOW!"

With little further hesitation, Keith swam away, the grunts and blasts of the battle following him. Red struggled to keep up, so Keith quickly grabbed him in his hands and fled for his life. Keith swam into the trench and hid in a crack before checking to see if he'd been followed. After a few minutes, he breathed in relief before feeling his eyes burning with tears.

"Oh no." He moaned in despair. "What are we going to do Red?"

Red squeaked comfortingly, but Keith continued to panic.

"What do we do? What do we do?" He repeated to himself quietly for several minutes. Eventually, he took a deep breath and turned to Red. "We need to know if anyone managed to evade the Galran take over."

Red chirped confused.

"We'll need all the help we can get if we're to take back the Kingdom." Keith explained. "You're small and swift. Go search around the Kingdom for any Alteans and bring them back here."

Red chirped and squeaked at him worriedly. His message was clear: _what are you going to do?_

"We'll still need help, even if any Alteans aren't found." Keith said. "While you're searching for Alteans, I'm going to ask Lance for help."

Red squeaked in protest.

"I know, Red!" Keith sighed exasperated. "I know it's dangerous! I know it's stupid! But we need all the help we can get! Trust me; the last thing I want to do is to involve Lance in something this dangerous, but we can't handle this on our own. We need him. The Kingdom needs him."

Red chirped in reluctant agreement.

"Okay then." Keith said. "We'll meet back here in an hour. Be careful."

Red squeaked the same thing back before swimming up out of the trench in search of survivors. Once Red disappeared over the ledge, Keith steeled himself before making his way back toward the Coast. Hopefully, Lance would still be there.

* * *

Lance sat on the rocks with his sketching pad. He'd hoped to distract himself from Keith's absence by painting the waves, but his thoughts kept going back to Keith. Instead of blue and white waves, Lance had painted a recurring image from his memory; Keith sat on the rock under the Sun, looking back at Lance with a smile. Lance was careful not to smudge his violet eyes or black hair. He managed to make the tail look like it was shining in the light. It was no use. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about Keith. Lance looked up from his painting and gazed at the sea. The water sparkled in midday Sun and the sea began to reach his toes as the tide came in. Hunk and Pidge wouldn't be back for a few more days and his siblings were all out: Mariana had gone into town with her friends while David, Fernanda and Felipe were at the park with Blue. Julia and Sofia were at dance classes and his Mama had taken Kaltenecker to the vets for a check up on her kittens, so, for the time being, he was truly alone.

Lance sighed. He really wished Keith was here. Right now, Lance would probably be showing Keith more photos of the planets and explaining the Science behind their rotations and orbit. Heck, he even missed Keith's mullet, and his laugh. His laugh was amazing…

"Lance!"

…

Great, now he was imagining the Mermyt's voice. Boy, he must be really out of it-

"LANCE!"

Lance jumped as he realised that the voice had not come from inside his head, but from right next to him. He looked down and felt overjoyed when he saw a pair of bright, violet eyes looking up at him.

"Keith!" Lance cried. "You're back! And so soon too."

"I know, I know." Keith panted heavily, as if he'd been swimming really quickly. "I'm happy to see you too, but I have no time for this. I need your help."

"Okay…" Lance said warily. "What's wrong?"

Keith launched into his story of how the Kingdom had been taken over by Zarkon and the Galra. He told Lance about Shiro's fight with Haggar and how he had to flee to find help.

"So, let me get this straight:" Lance clarified. "Your Kingdom has been overtaken by an outcast race of Mermyts with a giant-crab-leader and you need my help to drive them out."

"Pretty much." Keith replied. "Red's looking for any Altean survivors right now, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Lance, please, my People, the Princess, my Brother, we need your help. I can't do this on my own."

Lance stared at Keith's wide pleading eyes. The violet he had grown to love was sparkling with budding tears and clouded with fear.

"Well," Lance said. "I've always wanted to save a Princess from a giant crab."

"Oh Lance, thank you!" Keith smiled, relieved.

"But," Lance asked. "How will I breathe underwater?"

Keith dove under the water and re-emerged a few seconds later holding some slimy purple leaves in his hand.

"What's that?" Lance asked.

"It's Nunvil Weed." Keith replied. "It'll allow you to breathe under water for 24 hours."

"Doesn't look very tasty…" Lance squinted.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have anything else." Keith apologised. He'd heard that Nunvil Weed had caused some Mermyts to lose their taste buds! Lance, however, was human so his taste buds wouldn't be as sensitive. Hopefully. "Just eat it quickly before you register the taste."

"Okay then." Lance sighed in dread. "Just let me leave a note for my Mama first. She'll be worried sick if I disappear without notice."

* * *

Many hours later, as the Sun was setting, Vanessa McClain walked along the shore looking for her eldest son. At the rocks, she found his shoes, T-shirt and jacket in a pile on the sand. His paints and brushes laid on the rock next to his sketch pad. Picking it up, she saw a Merman with raven hair, violet eyes and a dazzling smile sat on a rock with the sea behind him. On the back was a note:

 _Dear Mama,_

 _The boy in the painting is Keith – he's the one I was talking to you about last night. He's a Mermyt who lives in a Kingdom underwater, but it's been taken over by some evil guys called the Galra. There's no one else who can help, so I've gone down with Keith to help him save his home. I'll try to be home sometime between dinner today and tomorrow evening, but no promises._

 _See you soon!_

 _Love,_

 _Lance._

* * *

 **You thought this was ending? Oh no, the story has only just begun! We're finally getting to the action that I've wanted to get to for ages! I'm not quite sure how the Kingdom will be saved yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something.**

 **BTW, just to clarify, Allura is a Princess who is soon to be coronated as Queen. This celebration is like a pre-Coronation Celebration. Also, Nunvil: yum yum. I wonder what that will taste like? Also, Mama McClain is the best Mama.**

 **So, Zarkon has taken over the Kingdom and Lance is in on the adventure! What will happen now?**

 **Tune in next time to find out my wonderful readers!**

 **WarrynSparklegem**


	7. Chapter 7

**So, so, soooooooooooo sorry that this update took so long! A-Levels and EPQ have been taking up a lot of my time, but I'm here now! I am spurred on by my excitement for Season 8! So, without further delay, here's Chapter 7!**

* * *

Shiro groaned weakly as he was thrown into a cell. He felt dizzy and exhausted; his fight with Haggar had drained him. He'd fought valiantly and efficiently, but the Witch's magic won in the end and he was electrocuted. Shiro didn't have the strength to keep himself floating, so he laid on the floor of his cell, the sand soft against his cheek.

"Shiro?"

Shiro blinked slowly and looked up. Princess Allura was in the cell next to him, looking at him worriedly through the bars.

"Allura…" He groaned hoarsely. "You're…okay."

"I'm fine!" Allura said. "The Galra caught us all off guard at the Celebration. You were right. They took advantage of the gathering and your absence. Zarkon has taken over."

"It's okay." Shiro tried to reassure her. "Keith's still out there."

"Keith?" Allura sighed in relief. "Thank Goodness, but what can he do? He's all on his own."

"I raised him." Shiro said confidently. "He's smart and strong; he'll think of something."

At least, that's what the two of them hoped. Keith was their last chance, their only chance. If he failed, they were all doomed.

* * *

"Congratulation on capturing the Champion and his soldiers." Zarkon praised his Druid. "With them out of the way, no one can stand between us and our right."

"Thank you, My Lord," Haggar bowed. "But I regret to inform you that his Brother escaped and is still out there."

"The patrols are sure to find him." Zarkon said. "Even so, there is little he can do now. Tomorrow, I will execute Princess Allura, and then no one will be able to challenge me ever again."

Zarkon turned back to the Witch.

"Have your Druids place some wards around the Kingdom." He instructed. "Any survivors will return to reclaim their Kingdom. When they do, we can capture them so that they can witness the death of their beloved Princess."

"Yes, My Lord." Haggar complied. She bowed deeply once again before swimming away to the depths of the Castle where her Druids had already set out their lab.

Once she had departed, Zarkon crawled up the steps of the Main Hall and settled himself down on the throne with his legs surrounding it on all side. He smiled sinisterly.

"Such a shame, Alfor." He thought aloud. "You tried so hard. You even risked your life to keep me out, but I have now reclaimed my Kingdom. Looks like you lose, old friend."

* * *

"Bleurgh." Lance groaned in disgust. "That Nunvil was disgusting. It tasted like hotdog water and feet!"

Keith rolled his eyes. This was the tenth time Lance had said this in the last few minutes. After writing his note, Lance had stripped down to just his swimming trunks and joined Keith in the deeper water. He'd stared at the weed for a few seconds before quickly stuffing it into his mouth and swallowing it down. He could feel its cold, slimy leaves slithering down his throat. The taste was so disgusting that his eyes had welled up with tears! While he was still flailing and gagging on the taste, Keith shoved him underneath the waves, chuckling silently at the Human's fussing. Lance panicked for a few seconds before realising that there was no pain or pressure from suffocation.

Lance was surrounded by a gorgeous deep blue on all sides. Beneath him, he could see the pretty coral and schools of multi-coloured fish. Kelp waved from the sea bed and shells littered the sand like raindrops. It was so…beautiful!

Then Lance realised that the taste of the Nunvil was still on his tongue and the moment was ruined.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Keith pointed out for the tenth time in the last few minutes. "The taste will be gone soon anyway."

Since Lance didn't have flippers for swimming like Mermyts did, Keith was leading the Human down towards the depths with a tight grip on his tanned wrist.

"I guess it did." Lance admitted. He looked around the sea again. "I guess the bad taste was worth it anyway. It's really beautiful down here!"

"It is," Keith smiled sadly. "But it won't be for long if Zarkon wins. His Druids power their magic by draining quintessence – or life force – from living things. I have no doubt that they'll use these fish and coral to fuel their dark magic."

"We won't let that happen Keith." Lance said, hoping that the confidence in his voice would reassure his lo-his friend. "We'll save your home and your People."

"I know, I know." Keith breathed deeply to calm his nerves. "First, we'll rendezvous with Red in the trench and see if he found anyone. Then we'll come up with a plan."

"Sounds good to me."

Keith lead Lance down into the trench towards the crack. He assisted Lance to the wall, who then guided himself down to the crack with his hands.

"Red?" Keith called quietly.

The seahorse immediately zipped out of the crack and nuzzled Keith in the chin.

"Yeah, I got him." He told his friend. "Did you find anyone?"

Red responded with some squeaks and chirps. During their conversation, Lance poked his head into the crack to look inside.

"Really?" Keith asked excitedly. "Who did you find?"

"AAAH!" Two voices cried out simultaneously. One was high-pitched like a girl while the other was high-pitched like a parrot.

Lance propelled away from the crack, a comical look of surprise and shock on his face. Following him out was an older Mermyt with pale skin and a blue sash around his waist, indicating that he held a position in the Royal household. His tail was a bright and bold orange with large flippers. His hair was similarly orange, as was his thick and lustrous moustache.

"ENEMY COMBATANT!" He cried out again, screeching like a parrot. "Stay back Keith! I'll deal with this savage!"

"Coran, no!" Keith exclaimed, grabbing the strange Mermyt by the arm. "Lance is with me. He's come to help us."

"Is that so?" The Mermyt – apparently named Coran – eyed Lance suspiciously. He stroked the end of his moustache thoughtfully. "And how exactly does he plan to help?"

"Um…" Lance gaped, still trying to comprehend the sudden change in Coran's attitude towards him. "Well…I can sneak around and cause distractions…and stuff…?"

"Stuff?" Coran repeated sceptically.

"Yeah." Lance huffed, feeling quite offended. "You know, you're lucky you're a good guy otherwise I would have had to WACKA you!"

At his exclamation, Lance struck his arms out like a Kung-Fu fighter.

"Oh, well," Coran bristled. "If you'd done that, then I would have just done JIJIJIJIJI!"

With every JI, Coran stabbed his arm out like a knife.

"Oh yeah? Well what would you have done if I had done this!?"

Lance then waved his arms around like a Wacky-Inflatable-Arms-Flailing-Tube-Man while spurting out Dr Zoidberk noises.

"Oh my Goodness!" Coran exclaimed, horrified and affronted. He struck an arm out to shield Keith from Lance. "Stay back lad! This creature has proven itself to be the living embodiment of pure evil!"

At this point, Keith didn't know whether he should cry and groan or break out into laughter. He eventually resolved himself to lay a hand on Coran's shoulder.

"Those aren't real fight moves Coran." He informed the older Mermyt. "He's is just being silly."

Coran immediately brightened up, supported by how his moustache also quirked and pointed upwards as well.

"Oh!" Coran smiled, clapping his hands. "Well, that's okay then."

Coran then turned to Lance with a huge, friendly smile on his face and dimples on his cheeks. His hand was stretched out warmly.

"Nice to meet you lad." He grinned. "I'm Coran, the Royal Advisor of the Altean Royal Family. It's a pleasure to meet the Human who saved Keith's life."

Lance's eyes widened in shock. Normally, a man with this much charisma, friendliness and temper would be too weird. Lance, however, liked this Mermyt's personality! It somehow felt like he'd just met a kindred spirit, so to say. While his strong and powerful personality had been surprising and intimidating at first, Lance liked him too much to refuse a handshake.

"Nice to meet you Coran." Lance smiled back as he took the hand and shook it. "The name's Lance."

"Wait!" Keith blurted out. "If you knew who he was already, then what was all that about!?"

"I just wanted to make sure he wasn't possessed or something." Coran replied as if it were obvious. "The Galra may be bad, but the Druids are far more dangerous."

Keith shivered as he remembered Shiro's fight with Haggar. Lance, on the other hand, blinked with confusion.

"Druids?" He inquired.

"They're some of Zarkon's subjects who have dabbled with the workings of quintessence and energy." Coran explained. "Alteans also investigate this sort of magic, but the Galra were utilising their findings to gain more power over everyone by spreading fear. Many years ago, King Alfor rose fought Emperor Zarkon for the Throne and won. He drove the Galra away and banned all forms of Dark Magic, bringing peace and security to the Ocean again. Princess Allura is supposed to be crowned tomorrow. I suppose that's why Zarkon decided to strike today."

"Yeah, we saw them." Keith said. "Shiro and I arrived to see that the Galra had infested the Kingdom. Haggar found us and shocked the guards unconscious. Shiro fought Haggar and told me to flee. I went to get Lance and Red searched around for survivors. How were you not captured?"

"The Council thought that Allura's ceremonial robe needed a few pearls," Coran explained. "So, I went out in search of some. I came back to the Kingdom to find the Galra had taken over. I hid in some seaweed when some guards passed by and found our little seahorse friend. He then said that you were still free as well, so he brought me here and now here we all are."

"It's great to have you here with us Coran." Keith smiled gratefully. "If anyone can get us into the Kingdom and the Castle, it's you."

"So," Lance jumped in. "Any ideas on how to free your Kingdom?"

"Well," Coran began twirling his moustache again. "Firstly, we need to figure out why the Kingdom's Shield Stones have failed. Once we figure that out, we may be able to find a way to restore them. The Shield weakens any kind of Dark Magic in the Kingdom. If we could get them back up, the Druids would be significantly weakened."

"But what about the regular Galra?" Lance asked. "They may not have magic, but I'm sure their weapons are just as deadly and efficient, and I doubt they will be weakened by this 'Shield'."

"If we could get Shiro and the rest of the guards," Keith wondered out loud. "Then they would be able to fight the Galra soldiers. But I reckon they're all in the dungeons and heavily guarded. We'd have to infiltrate the Castle. Getting past the Galra might be possible, but the Druids are very hard to hide from."

"So basically," Lance summarised. "We can't defeat these Druids because there is no shield and we can't break out the Altean Guards to defeat the Galran Guards and restore the shield because of said Druids?"

"Yup!" Coran chirped as if what Lance had just said was a good thing.

"So that means that our first priority should be to re-establish the Shield." Keith said. "Once we figure out how to bring it back up, we can then set about releasing the Guards."

"Well," Lance sighed. "I guess it's better than no plan at all."

"Okay then!" Coran announced with a loud clap of his hands. "We'll go see to these Shield Stones first. They're on the outskirts of the Kingdom, so it should be relatively easy to get to them."

* * *

Vanessa McClain was a natural worrier. Of course, being a single mother of seven children would do that woman. Finding Lance's stuff abandoned on the beach had sent her into a panic, but Lance's note had sent her into a near hyperventilation! His letter spoke of Galra and Mermyts and underwater kingdoms. Was this even real or was Lance just playing a silly prank? Or, she thought with horror, had he run away with this Keith to join some gang? Had he been kidnapped? Had they decided to do some lovers' pact where they drown in the sea together!?

 _Okay, okay, breathe…_

Vanessa took five huge and deep breaths before sitting down on a rock. She studied Lance's message again and assured herself that the text was too optimistic and encouraging to be a goodbye or a suicide note. The thought relieved her a little. But still, it wasn't like Lance to just run off and disappear like this. Unless…

Vanessa turned the paper over and studied the painting closely. Honestly, it looked like Lance's best piece yet. His sketches and paintings usually had trace lines left behind and blotches of paint. This one was pristine, as if so much time, care and love had been used. The colours were well-blended and within their lines. The details on the rocks, sea and sky were almost realistic, but the figure – Keith – looked spectacular! Looking closely, she could see lines where the cheeks were scrunched by the smile. The violet eyes seemed to sparkle with hues of blue and grey mixed in. The raven hair shined in the midday sun and the pale skin was pink around the joints. It reminded her of the sketches her husband used to draw of her. Whoever this Keith was, Lance clearly loved him dearly. Lance had mentioned that Keith's home had been taken over and he'd gone to help. Could it be true? Could Mermaids and underwater civilisations be real? She didn't know what to believe anymore!

Well, that wasn't quite true. Vanessa knew that there was one thing – person – she could believe in. She believed in Lance, and she believed that he would come home to her and the rest of the McClain family.

"Stay safe, Mijo." She whispered her prayer out to the sea and held Lance's note close to her chest.

* * *

Of course, _relatively easy_ must mean something different to Mermyts because the infiltration team had to find a hole or crack or rock to hide in or behind practically every five seconds! Galran Guards were swarming the perimeter of the Kingdom; if this was just the outskirts, then the Citadel must be packed with guards! Coran lead the group through a forest of kelp. It was large and thick, but they wouldn't be seen.

"Where has Zarkon been hiding these troops all these years?" Keith hisses as they neared the outskirts.

"The entire Galran species had been driven out Keith." Coran reminded the younger Mermyt. "I'm sure Zarkon managed to rally the entire population able to fight."

"Which is probably why we'll succeed easily." Lance confidently assured them.

"Why?" Keith asked, looking behind at Lance, who he was dragging by the wrist.

"I mean, look at us!" Lance laughed. "Two Mermyts, a seahorse and a Human against what looks like the entire Galran population? No one will see that coming!"

"He does have a point." Coran stroked his moustache thoughtfully. "As a small group, stealth will be our strong point. Sneaking around has been fairly smooth so far."

"But we won't be very good at defending ourselves if we are seen." Keith said.

"We can deal with that if we get to it." Lance scoffed. "Which we _won't_ because we'll be so good at sneaking around that we won't be seen. Simples!"

"I guess." Keith conceded.

"Here we are."

Keith, Lance and Red floated closer to the gap where Coran had parted the kelp. Ahead was a stone structure resembling a mini-volcano. It was about Coran's height and was steep with a small base. From where the group was, they could see a small arch hole in the structure. Lance couldn't quite make out what was in there, but his attention was less on the structure and more on the two guards either side of it.

"What do we do?" Lance whispered.

"We distract them, of course!" Coran provided quietly.

"Yeah, but how!?" Lance's whisper raised to more of a hushed voice.

A little chirp answered their worries. Red swam in front of their views and squeaked and clicked at Keith.

"Are you sure?" Keith asked worriedly.

Red bobbed his head in what looked like a nod.

"What's he saying?" Lance asked.

"He said he'll lead the guards away." Keith replied before turning back to Red. "Okay, go for it. But remember to hide as soon as you can. Once you've managed to lose them, come back here. Then we'll know they're coming back as well."

Red squeaked an affirmative before whizzing away. He hovered around the guards' heads like a wasp. One of the guards grunted and tried to waft Red away.

"Go away!"

But Red wasn't done yet. He went up to the other guard and whacked his nose with his tail. The second guard growled threateningly: "Get lost!"

Red began to swim around their heads in circles, aggravating the guards immensely as they got dizzier.

One of the guards finally released a frustrated growl: "That's it!"

Red chirped frantically and scurried away as fast as his little tail could propel him with the two guards following behind.

"Let's go." Coran said once the Galra were out of view.

The three swam nearer to the stone and peered into the arch. Inside was a smooth oval stone. It was milky white, but the colour seemed to float around like clouds. Nestled in the same space was a smaller stone, more jagged and rough. The stone was a mic of purple and black; just looking at it sent a chill down Lance's spine.

"Oh no." Coran frowned in horror.

"What is it?" Lance asked, equally horrified.

"The Shield Stones have been entirely drained of their power!" Coran explained frantically. "They usually swim with various colours when their power is strong. Now that their power is gone, they've turned misty. I don't know what, but I bet this smaller stone did something to the Shield Stone."

Keith's gaze was now directed to the purple stone. Despite the dark aura surrounding it, he reached his fingers in to take it out.

"Keith, no!" Coran suddenly exclaimed.

Keith pulled his hand back as if he'd been burned.

"What?" Keith groaned. "We need to examine it if we're going to figure out what's going on!"

"But we don't know how this magic will affect us!" Coran waved his hands about urgently. "There could be some enchantment that turns any Mermyt who touches it into sea foam!"

"What about Humans?"

Keith and Coran turned to Lance.

"What if I take it out?" Lance verified. "I highly doubt the Galra would be expecting a Human to remove this stone."

"No." Keith blurted out. "Absolutely not."

"We don't have time for this Keith." Lance argued. "We need that stone and you two definitely can't pick it up. I have a greater chance of picking it up unscathed than you do."

Coran put a hand under his chin: "That sounds logical. Okay, give it a go. But the moment you feel anything strange, you remove your hand immediately!"

"Yes Sir." Lance saluted playfully before gingerly reaching into the hole.

Keith watched the tanned hand worriedly as the long fingers closed themselves around the dark stone. His gaze then flicked up to Lance's face to check for any signs of pain or discomfort. Instead he found calmness.

"I've got it." Lance declared, holding his hand out flat, the dark stone balanced in the centre.

Coran leaned in closer.

"And you don't feel funny holding it?" Coran questioned.

"Nope." Lance shook his head. "I guess Mermyt magic only works on Mermyts."

"I guess…" Coran murmured with a thoughtful stroke of his chin.

"Hey." Keith called out. "We should probably leave a fake stone behind."

"Excellent idea!" Coran exclaimed as he reached into his satchel. "I happened to find a lump of obsidian on my travels. It should work – unless a Druid comes along."

"It will buy us more time than if we left nothing." Lance said as he took the obsidian from Coran and placed it where the stone had been.

Almost immediately after, Red arrived back, squeaking urgently.

"The guards are coming back." Keith gasped. "We should go!"

Coran and Keith grabbed Lance by his wrists and swam them away from the rock as quickly as they could. With his hand tight around the stone, Lance glanced over his shoulder every now and then to make sure they weren't being followed. Once they were a safe distance from the outskirts, they settled down on the sand.

"Well," Keith panted lightly. "That's step one down. What now?"

"Hmm…" Coran wondered quietly. "I think I know someone who can help, but I know you won't like it."

Coran eyed Keith warily as one eyes a wolf about to pounce.

"Why?" Keith asked slowly.

"I they can help us then surely there should be no problem, right?" Lance queried.

"There is one other Mermyt who can know just as much about magic as Haggar can." Coran explained. "He's generally a neutral party, but he hates Zarkon as much as the Alteans do. With the right amount of convincing, I think we can get him to help us."

"Okay then." Lance exclaimed excitedly. "Where do we find him?"

"He lives at the bottom of Thaseryix Trench."

"Wait…" Keith growled lowly. "Coran…are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Quite possibly, yes." Coran replied.

"You can't be serious!" Keith cried out. "He's cunning and sly! He can't be trusted!"

"Right now, he's the only one we can turn to!" Coran argued. "If we're going to find out what that stone is, we need to see him."

Lance looked between the two Mermyts as they engaged in an intense staring contest. Keith's glare was sharp while Coran's was backed with wisdom and logic. Eventually, Keith had no choice but to back down, which he did with a heavy sigh.

"Fine." He groaned. "Let's go see him."

"Who?" Lance asked.

"Lance, lad," Coran began without answering the question. "We need to make sure that stone doesn't go missing. I think I have something here…"

Coran brought a clam and an old piece of string from his satchel.

"How many things do you have in there!?" Lance cried with bulging eyes.

"If I see anything that might be useful, I pick it up and carry it with me!" Coran explained while he securely tied the string around the clam's end. "It's a good job I do, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Lance agreed. "You're like the sea version of Mary Poppins! Is your bag infinitely huge as well?"

"…I'm assuming that's some sort of Human cultural reference." Coran said.

"I don't quite understand either." Keith chipped in.

"But we can worry about Merry Poppet later." Coran began quickly. "Here you go Lance."

Lance took the clam from Coran. The clam was open. Inside was just enough room for the stone to sit inside securely.

"We can't have you losing that stone." Coran smiled. "Keep that locket around your neck at all times."

"Sure thing boss." Lance grinned as he brought the string around his neck. The stone hardly rattled inside the clam.

"Now then!" Coran began to swim excitedly. "Off we go!"

"Where are we going?" Lance asked again as Keith took his wrist.

"We're going to meet Zarkon's son," Keith replied grumpily. "Prince Lotor."

* * *

 **DU-DU-DUN! Brace yourselves; Lotor is coming. Also Coran is here! :D**

 **Things have been rather hectic at the moment, so updates won't be as regular as they used to be (sorry!) but the action is really starting to flood in now. I have a good idea of how I want LAEATS to end. Season 7 was so cool and I can't wait for Season 8! Also, Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor is awesome! I think she may end up being my new favourite Doctor! But I'm not going to be too hasty...I'll wait until after the Christmas special first before I go passing judgement like that.**

 **Anyway, I'll try my best to update soon.**

 **Until next chapter, my wonderful readers!**

 **WarrynSparklegem**


	8. Chapter 8

**Merry Christmas everyone! This may be a bit late for some of you, but it's still Christmas as I'm writing this, so I'm gonna count it. Anyway, thank you Anonymous who was worried about my health. I can assure you that I am fine. It's just that Sixth Form and moving house have taken up quite a bit of my time. I'm also doing an EPQ, which I really need to finish writing before I return in January. Also, I was emotionally recovering from Season 8 (but more on that later). For now, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Something was wrong. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but she could feel a shudder rattling her spine. There was something wrong, but she couldn't quite grasp the right feeling in her mind. She was connected to all of her spells and there was something wrong with one of them. Haggar hissed in frustration and closed her eyes to channel her focus. What was it? What was wrong? What was she missing?

* * *

"How long do you think it will take Haggar to realise her spell's distorted?" Keith asked Coran as he continued to drag Keith behind him.

"I'm not sure," Coran replied with a deep sigh. "But hopefully not before we've met with Lotor."

"Yeah, still can't believe this Zarkon guy has a son." Lance sneered in disgust. "And a son who doesn't like him, at that."

"Zarkon disowned him years ago for being disobedient." Keith explained. "He's against his father, but he's not with the Alteans either. That's why we can't take everything he says to seriously. I don't trust him, but if Coran deems him to be our only option, then I guess we really have no other choice."

"I'm not saying we should trust him completely." Coran cut in quickly. "It is always imperative to practise caution around Prince Lotor. But he was trained by both his father and Haggar, so his knowledge of magic is second best only to Haggar herself. He'd be a useful ally in this fight, but we don't even know if he'll help us at all."

"Well, is there any way to guarantee his help?" Lance asked. "Offerings? Food? Tasks?"

"Probably something like our souls or agreeing to an eternity of servitude to him." Keith growled bluntly. Lance's eyes widened as he gulped loudly.

"H-he sounds pleasant." Lance stammered with a shaky smile. "But I reckon I could easily take him on if I have to."

"And how do expect to do that?" Keith asked snidely, rolling his eyes. "You don't have a weapon and your legs don't allow for much mobility."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I am a phenomenal swimmer!" Lance yelped affronted. "And I can land a good punch too!"

"Now hold your seahorses Lance!" Coran said. Then, in response to an angry and whiny huff, he added: "No offense Red. If Lotor is going to be our ally, then we need to be civil with him. That means no threatening or fights."

Both Keith and Lance grumbled but complied.

"Besides, it's not just the Kingdom that's in danger." Coran continued gravely. "If Zarkon succeeds in draining all the quintessence from the ocean, he'll become powerful enough to take over the surface as well – the Humans will be taken just like the Mermyts have been. It's not just the Mermyts and marine life who are in danger; everyone is in danger. It's up to us to save all life."

Keith and Lance both blinked in surprise. Neither of them had expected the situation to be so…drastic and large.

"So…no pressure then?" Lance laughed awkwardly.

"No, not so much." Coran cheerfully agreed. "Because I know we're going to win. We've got one thing Haggar and Zarkon don't know about."

"Me? Is it me? It's me, right?" Lance gushed excitedly.

"Actually yes." Coran grinned. "Like you said, Zarkon won't expect a Human to be here with us. As far as he knows, Keith and I are the only two not imprisoned and therefore his only threats. If necessary, we can split from you."

"No." Keith suddenly blurted out. "I don't like that idea of letting Lance wander around on his own. He'd be completely vulnerable!"

"Which would make him all the more safer." Coran argued. "Besides, we'll only need to separate _if necessary_. We won't know until we've met with Lotor."

"Do you really think he'll know what to do?" Lance asked quietly.

Coran closed his eyes tightly and sighed deeply: "I hope so. I really hope so."

* * *

"Sire, I believe we have a problem." Haggar's rasping filled the throne room.

"How so, Witch?" Zarkon inquired, his voice low and smooth.

"I have detected that something is wrong with one of my spells," Haggar explained dutifully. "However, I cannot tell which one. I believe that we should investigate further – especially with the Royal Advisor and Champion's Brother still loose."

"Even though your spells are well protected?" Zarkon sneered. Even though he respected his High Druid greatly, he still enjoyed challenging her power. He often questioned the strength and security of her spells and rubbed her mistakes in her face.

"All of my spells are well protected!" Haggar bristled coolly. "They are impossible for Altean Mermyts to surpass. I just believe that we should be cautious. Victory is not ours until we execute the Princess tomorrow."

Zarkon hummed thoughtfully: "It would indeed be a shame if we were defeated so early. Very well then. Send out your Druids. Investigate whatever you deem to be necessary. Just make sure that no one can stop me tomorrow."

"Yes, my Lord." Haggar bowed lowly before swimming away to round up her students. She growled internally. Her enchantments were completely sound, so how could it be possible for one of them to feel wrong?

* * *

For the most, their journey had been rather peaceful. There was very little conversation, but then again, there is very little you can think of to say when all you can think about is making sure that your home is not destroyed by some quintessence-sucking-sea-vampire race. Lance managed to distract himself a little by observing the ocean around him while still being dragged behind Keith. Schools of fish veered or separated to avoid the three of them. He'd seen clown fish and dories and cod – he even saw a sea turtle at some point! As they swam, the ocean around them began to darken as the Sun set. But as the light began to fade, the most amazing thing happened! The seaweed began to glow neon colours of blues and pinks!

"Wow!" Lance exclaimed.

"What?" Keith turned to the Human.

"The seaweed is glowing!" Lance grinned excitedly.

"All seaweed does that!" Coran pointed out like one does to a young child.

"But I've never seen seaweed glow before." Lance said puzzled.

"That'll probably be because you haven't eaten Nunvil Weed before." Coran hummed. "Nunvil Weed does not only allow you to breathe underwater; it also allows you to view the ocean with a Mermyt's sight too. Anything that once was invisible to you is visible now."

"Cool!" Lance drew out in awe. "It almost makes up for the horrible taste."

Keith rolled his eyes and smirked slightly as Coran began to argue for the many health benefits and other uses of Nunvil Weed, such as increasing the lushness of his hair and moustache. ("Will it make my hair lusher!?" "No. It needs to be grounded along with pearls and organs shed by sea cucumbers!" "EW! GROSS! NO WAY AM I PUTTING THAT C**P IN MY HAIR!")

By the time they had reached Thaseryix Trench, the Sun had set completely, and the Moon was fairly high; not quite at Midnight position – maybe an hour or two away.

"This guy's a bit out of the way, isn't he?" Lance whined. "It feels like we've been swimming for _hours_!"

"We have been swimming for hours." Keith groaned in reply. "After he was disowned, Lotor moved away from most civilisations to continue his research without disturbances."

"Shh!" Coran suddenly hissed and raised a hand. The trio flowed to a halt. Before them was a towering trench filled with shadows. They couldn't see any further than three feet in, but Lance couldn't help the shudder that tickled his spine. Something was definitely watching him (his family said he had a sixth sense for that).

"I think we're being watched." Lance leaned over and whispered into Keith's ear, which flickered when Lance's breath ghosted over it.

"Quite possibly." Keith whispered back.

Coran slowly inched forward and beckoned the other two to follow. As they cautiously entered the darkness, Keith took a hold of Coran's arm as to not lose him. Red buried himself into Keith's hair and laid against his shoulder. Keith was usually not afraid of the dark, but the thought of being completely blinded made him quiver. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was scared. He was scared of not being able to see something approaching them because then he wouldn't be able to defend Lance and Coran. He was so caught up in his paranoia that he didn't notice his breath speed up quietly or that his grip on Lance's wrist had unconsciously tightened. Lance knew that Keith was uncomfortable, so he gently and slowly moved his arm so that is hand was intertwined with Keith's and locked fingers with him, giving them a soft and comforting squeeze. He smiled when he noticed that the Mermyt's breathing had relaxed greatly.

After a few minutes of swimming blindly, Lance finally whispered out: "Coran, do you know where we're going?"

"Haven't a crab's cousin, Lance." Coran replied.

"It's just that…" Lance slowly murmured.

"Just that…what?" Keith quietly demanded.

"It's just that I feel like we're being followed…"

Coran froze immediately, Lance and Keith lightly bumping into him. They looked around warily for any sign of movement. Suddenly, not a few seconds later, small explosions of light appeared around them with loud bangs, effectively blinding their sensitive retinas. Keith cried out and released his grips of Coran and Lance in favour of covering his eyes. Lance, too, released Keith with a loud and high yelp.

"Who's there!?" Keith growled out threateningly while still rubbing his eyes.

He hissed as he felt a pair of large hands grab his shoulders. He quickly turned and lashed out a fist, but he hit nothing. He tried to detect his attacker by listening, but there were too many sounds around him. He could hear Coran demanding to be let go, only to grunt as he was restrained. His tail disturbed the water as he flailed and elbowed his adversary in the abdomen(?). Lance, meanwhile, was flailing his fists out in every direction while spewing out insults, curses and threats by the second!

"Hey! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME YOU PENDEJO! RELEASE ME BEOFRE I – HEY! DON'T TOUCH ME THERE! HEY! THAT – THAT TICKLES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

By the end of his insulting rant, Lance was giggling and laughing like crazy because smoot and delicate fingers were lightly tickling his exposed sides like feathers. Lance thrashed around, trying to dislodge the hands from his skin, but they only seemed to tickle him more.

"No! Stop! Please!" Lance laughed breathlessly. "Oh, Dios please have mercy!"

"Lance! "What's happening?" Keith yelled out in concern as he was finally restrained by a pair of hands much larger than the first.

"This – this stupid fish person won't stop tickling me!" Lance heaved. "Please! Oh my God! I can't breathepleasei'mgonnadieifyoudon'tstop-"

The fingers finally removed themselves from Lance's skin, leaving the Human floating in the water and gasping heavily to get breath back into his aching lungs. He heard Coran and Keith grunt as they were dragged away. When Lance felt two hands tightly grip onto his shoulders, he reasoned: "I promise I will not fight you as long as you don't tickle me again, so can you loosen your grip please? My skin bruises very easily."

Surprisingly, his attacker obliged and instead lodged Lance onto their shoulder. It was like a fireman hold except that they were swimming instead of running. True to his word, Lance allowed himself to be dragged to wherever it was they were being taken to. A few minutes later, Lance was able to open his eyes without his retinas burning. He lifted his head and looked around. Again, he could see only darkness. He turned his head to try and see his escort but couldn't see much besides ponytail that looked less like hair and more like flesh.

"Lance!" Keith called from the front. "Are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine." Lance called back calmly. "Just enjoying my ride."

His capturer giggled slightly, their shoulders shaking. The voice sounded feminine, which would explain the ponytail-looking body part. They soon entered a cave with some form of light source. Lance could then make out the red skin of his attacker. The group soon acme to a stop, allowing Lance to haul himself off the sea-person's shoulder and into an upright position.

Once floating freely again, Lance looked around at their attackers. His capturer had smooth red skin with blue and yellow markings on her face.

"Hi there!" She giggled, wiggling her fingers in greeting.

"Leave him alone!" Keith growled from behind them. Lance turned to see Keith being held back be a large Mermyt that was covered in purple bristles, making her look like she was half cat. She had large pink cat ears too, and a scar beneath her right eye. She held Keith's arm in one hand and Red in the other. Coran had been released, but was closely watched by a Mermyt with…no…face…

…

How was he being watched then?

The faceless Mermyt had patterns that made her look like she had a mouth and a black seahorse hovered above her shoulder. The final attacker had lilac skin and navy hair. Out of all four of them, she resembled the Mermyts he'd seen the most.

"Geez!" The red one huffed. "Not very nice, are you?"

"You'd think he doesn't like games." The furry one laughed. "Or sharing."

"Enough Zethrid." The blue one barked. "We're not meant to antagonise them. Let's take them in."

"I'll swim!" Lance immediately exclaimed. "No need to carry me!"

"Aw." The red one whined.

"Let him swim Ezor." The blue one said. "Maybe then we'll have less complaining."

"Move it." Zethrid grunted as she shoved Keith forwards. Keith turned and growled back, but quickly backed down to avoid further conflict. Ezor pouted but kept her hands off of Lance.

Lance quickly caught up with Keith and Coran, sharing confused glances with him.

"If you don't mind me asking," Coran politely asked. "Where are we going?"

"You are trespassers." Zethrid replied promptly. "We're going to find out what we should do with you. We can't let people leave here with knowledge of this place. Maybe we'll just kill you."

"Oooh!" Ezor cooed. "Can we please? This cute one here looks tasty! Or maybe we can keep him and kill the others!"

"I-is that really necessary?" Lance laughed nervously. "I mean I get that you want this place to stay secret, but we haven't even really seen anything! Can't we just be on our way?"

"No one would come here without purpose." The blue one interjected. "You're here for someone."

"We're here to see Lotor." Keith quickly answered, his voice laced with hostility.

The newcomers immediately halted, staring at the trio with surprise and suspicion. Lance could swear that he could see fires light up in their eyes. Then again, it could just be the crystal light. They were now in a rather spacious cavern lined with glowing crystals of many colours.

"Why would Alteans want to see Lotor?" The blue one asked, eying Keith and Coran warily.

After casting a small glare at Keith, Coran replied: "Zarkon has taken over the Kingdom. We're here for his help."

"Why Lotor?"

"The Druids have surrounded the Kingdom with spells and enchantments. We need his help to bypass them."

"Not that I want his help." Keith muttered under his breath. Thankfully, he was ignored.

"And what makes you think that Lotor will want to help you?" Zethrid questioned as she folded her beefy arms.

"Well, we won't know until we meet him." Lance replied. "So, it would be really great if you could help us out! Please?"

All eyes fell on Lance. The blue one looked him up and down with confusion and wonder.

"Now that I think about it," She began quietly. "What is a Human doing down here?"

"Just helping a friend." Lance explained offhandedly, even though he desperately wanted to describe Keith with something other than 'friend'. "Besides, I hear that if Zarkon succeeds in draining quintessence from the ocean, he'll move onto the surface world."

"Yes," A deep voice echoed throughout the cavern, smooth and rich as honey. "It would be a shame if the upper and lower worlds were lost."

Keith, Lance and Coran glanced around for the source of the voice. Just to the side of them was a curtain of kelp. How had they missed that? The leaves rustled and a purple hand poked through, pulling them to the side. They couldn't see a figure yet, but the message was clear: enter.

"Sir," The blue one spoke out suddenly. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"Don't fret so much Acxa." The voice laughed. "Unless you think you're going to fail in protecting me."

The blue o – Acxa growled lightly at the jab, but relaxed momentarily after and waved their visitors inside.

Coran lead his companions into a smaller cave. There were small alcoves in the walls filled with bottles. Lance recognised many of them as beer bottles with the labels still on them: _Puerto del Rey Negra_ , _Taberna de la Muralla Negra_ , even a bottle of _Mayabe Cerveza Clara_! Even so, Lance strongly suspected that the bottles were filled with something that wasn't beer. Alongside the beer bottles were glass containers filled with various substances that Lance had never seen before. One was filled with a purple mossy material while another was filled with red slimy stuff. He scrunched his nose in disgust and quickly moved on. They came to a stop before a large black cauldron. It was eerily similar to Ursula's cave from _The Little Mermaid_.

Ezor, Zethrid, Acxa and the faceless one halted behind them, baring down on them like towers. On the other side of the cauldron was a Mermyt with long white hair that surrounded him like a cloud. His skin was lilac like lavender and his eyes were yellow with blue irises. Two sharp fangs poked over his bottom lip which was curled up in a smirk. His tail was dark purple with black patterns climbing up like vines. He also had two find coming off near his hips like wings. He wore gold chains around his neck along with an orange and blue pendant. Lance also felt himself blush faintly when he saw the large muscles in the stranger's chest and shoulders. This guy was a boulder compared to his lean form. How embarrassing…

"So then," He grinned. "How may I help you?"

Lance's mouth hung open as he was struck too dumb to speak. This guy looked like some cool anime Merman while he was just some weedy Human! Keith elbowed him, causing to instantly close his mouth. Meanwhile, Coran explained their situation.

"Hmm. Yes. I expected my Father to strike the Alteans soon enough."

"Wait! You knew this would happen?!" Keith growled dangerously.

"Of course not!" Lotor laughed. "I manipulate quintessence; I can't see into the future!"

Keith blushed at being laughed at and was about to open his mouth to yell at the prick before him, but Lance quickly laid a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"So, you can see why we need your help." Coran continued to negotiate. "Will you?"

"Maybe…" Lotor hummed thoughtfully. "If I find it interesting enough."

"INTERESTING!?" Keith demanded in outrage. "You'll only help us if you find the situation interesting enough!? My brother is imprisoned by the Galra right now and Zarkon is going to execute Princess Allura if we don't stop him! You are our only hope of having any chance to save her, and you'll only do it if you think you'll have fun!?"

"Yup." Lotor casually shook his head. "That sounds about right."

"Why you-" Keith growled and clenched his fist but was pulled back by Zethrid.

"You must be incredibly desperate if you came searching for me." Lotor smirked. His gaze then flicked to Lance. "And you even recruited a Human to assist you. You needn't worry yourselves; I'm _almost_ completely sold. But I'm going to need some extra… _motivation_."

Keith and Coran recoiled at Lotor's sadist attitude and their stomachs flipped, ready to expel their contents, but they decided to remain silent. They could deal with him later. Red squeaked in outrage and snuggled into Keith's neck to calm down.

"Well," Lance answered, reaching for his clam necklace and opening it. "We've brought you a stone. It was dampening the power of some…Shield Stones? Yeah, I think they were shield stones."

Keith wanted to facepalm. Lotor, on the other hand, had slowly approached the Human with wide eyes fixed on the black stone that Lance had revealed. His long fingers reached for it and delicately held it up for closer inspection.

"Are you sure you should just hold it like that?" Lance asked hurriedly. "Coran said that it affects Alteans and you…look kind of Altean?"

"How observant of you!" Lotor laughed cheerfully. "I can assure you that my Galran genes give me enough protection from the Witch's spells. "Even then, I have enough knowledge in quintessence manipulation to protect myself."

Without another word, Lotor turned away and moved beneath a crystal for a clearer view of the stone.

"Interesting…" He murmured, then held out his free hand. "Naarti, pass the magnifying glass."

The faceless Mermyt – now named Naarti – passed over a magnifying glass form one of Lotor's filled shelves. Lance leaned over to Ezor and whispered: "How can she pass over that magnifying glass if she cannot see?"

"Lotor linked her quintessence with Kova, her seahorse." Ezor explained quietly. "She can see whatever Kova can see."

"Oh. Cool."

"Hush please!" Lotor called from his spot directly beneath one of the crystals. Everyone quietened and watched Lotor with bated breath. After several minutes, he turned around with an excited grin plastered over his face.

"I say," He chuckled. "This is very, very interesting…"

* * *

"Romelle!" Allura called down to a cell near the end of the hall. "Are you okay? How is your head?"

"I'm fine Princess!" An airy voice called back. "It has stopped hurting now."

"Thank goodness." Allura sighed with relief. She then turned to the cell next to her. "Shiro?"

Shiro shifted slightly from where he was laid on the ground. He was no longer dizzy and most of his aches were gone, but Allura had insisted that he continued to rest; there wasn't much else he could do.

"I'm okay." He smiled sweetly at Allura.

The Princess sighed with relief and floated to the bottom of her cell. She pushed her hand through the bars to hold Shiro's tightly. The two sat there for quite a while, completely contented and relaxed in each other's presence despite everything that had happened. Before long, there were voices approaching the entrance of the dungeon. Someone was coming.

* * *

"What is it?" Keith asked impatiently.

"This is definitely Haggar's work," Lotor announced, looking intensely at the stone. "However, the quintessence used to power this stone is an Altean's. It's designed to react only to Altean interference."

"But if an Altean's quintessence was used…" Keith began silently before turning to Coran, who looked back at Keith worriedly.

"No Alteans have gone missing recently." Coran said, his voice laced with dread.

* * *

Two Galran guards swam through the entrance and floated either side of Shiro's and Allura's cells. Close behind them swam Zarkon and Haggar. They stopped before the cells, staring down at the prisoners with hatred and smugness.

"Princess Allura." Zarkon snarled with disgust.

"Zarkon." Allura growled back, equally as disgusted. "To what do I owe the… _pleasure_ of your presence?"

"The Altean Kingdom has fallen." He announced with pride. "Your guards have been defeated and imprisoned and your… _Champion_ (Zarkon glanced at Shiro, who snarled back.) has failed you."

"We have not been defeated though." Allura straightened and declared loudly so that all of her subjects in the dungeons could hear her words. "We do not surrender to scum like you. We will be freed soon, and your victory will cease!"

"Of course." Zarkon chuckled darkly. "Your Royal Advisor and the Champion's Brother have managed to evade our attempts to capture them, but what exactly can they do against my army?"

He then turned slightly so that his voice could ring out to the rest of the dungeon.

"What can any Altean do to stop me?" He demanded. "I will crush every single one of you, starting off with your precious Princess."

He then turned back to Allura who continued to glare at him defiantly.

"Your friends may try to stop me," He said. "But they will be too late to save you when I execute you at high-Sun tomorrow."

Gasps and whimpers erupted throughout the dungeon, followed by cries and outburst of insults and threats. Shiro had straightened up and growled: "If you _dare_ to harm her, I will kill you myself!"

Allura, meanwhile, remained silent and composed. She soon raised her voice and cried "Silence!" and silence fell like a heavy blanket.

"You may kill me," She murmured so that only those nearby could hear her. "But you will never kill our spirit. You will be defeated, and when you are, I pray to the Ancients that the Devil may take mercy upon your soul, for no one else will."

Zarkon's nostrils flared in anger, but no words came from his mouth.

"I must say," Haggar spoke for the first time. "I find it funny that you hold such strong trust in your people. And misplaced trust at that."

"'Misplaced'?" Allura repeated with confusion.

"Yes." Haggar confirmed with a cruel smile. "Misplaced."

She then beckoned to someone in the entrance hall.

* * *

"But if Haggar managed to get Altean quintessence without anyone disappearing," Keith breathed out shakily. "Than that means…"

Coran looked at Keith gravely.

* * *

A figure floated through the entrance and came up to the bars of the cell, stopping between Haggar and Zarkon. His head remained down, but Shiro's stomach sank because he knew who it was. But…why?

"Where do you think our information came from?" Haggar questioned the Princess. "How do you think we found out about your celebration, or your brother's recovery? My little spy here fed us plenty of useful information."

 _But why?_ Shiro thought. _How could he do this? How could he betray us?_

* * *

"It means there's a traitor with the Kingdom."

* * *

"Kuro!" Shiro breathed out in disbelief as tears filled his eyes.

The figure raised his head to reveal a face identical to Shiro's, except for a few additional scars. However, instead of stormy-grey eyes, Shiro was greeted with glowing yellow orbs, and a snarl instead of a smile.

"Oh Brother! What have they don't to you?"

* * *

 **PLOT TWIST! Remember the spy from way back in Chapter One? It's Kuro! I also hope that Lotor was okay as well. He's a jerk at the moment, but lets face it; that's what makes him kind of likeable.**

 **And Season 8? WOOHOO! The first episode dragged me onto the Allurance train and made my heart swell with happiness and excitement! Then the final episode viciously tore out my heart, threw it onto the ground so that it shattered into a million pieces and then stomped all those pieces into the ground. DAMNIT LANCE AND ALLURA DESERED BETTER! I'm also still peeved that Lance, Pidge and Hunk didn't get apologies from Iverson and that we didn't get to see the team's reaction to Lance's Altean broadsword (although we did get to see it again, so thumbs up for that). On the other hand, I loved how everyone had a call-back in one way or another. I know that most people hated Season 8, but I found it kind of fitting. It definitely could have been better, but it definitely could have been worse. I'm also glad that Shiro got to have a happy ending and MAMA ATLAS MAKES MY HEART MELT!**

 **Also, AoT Season 3 has been awesome so far. Ducktales too. I watched them while I recovered from the trauma of the Season 8 finale. Also PRAISE THE LORD FOR DELTARUNE! I'm soooooooooo glad that Toby Fox came out with another game and it. Is. AWESOME! I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE SECOND CHAPTER! I'm also excited for the Doctor Who New-Year's-Day-not-Christmas-Day special. Kind of sad that it won't be continued until 2020, but I'm still excited all the same.**

 **Anyway, since it's Christmas, I'm going to include a preview for a story I'm planning write after LAEATS finishes. It's an Altean Lance AU where Lance was a thief/universal criminal who had quite a few run-ins with the Paladins. He's not evil. He's kind of like Gru; bad, but harmless. He's also an Altean-Galran hybrid like Lotor. It's going to be a VLD rewrite with this change in detail. I'm not sure who I'm going to ship him with yet. I don't really want to do Klance again because I want some variety, but I think it's an interesting concept. have a read and feel free to comment.**

* * *

"So," Allalancerizx grinned cockily at his guards. "Where am I headed this time?"

"We're taking you to Skarion Moon." The guard opposite him replied. "Since you escaped from Zulutraz so easily, we're giving you a harder challenge this time."

"Ooh!" Allalancerizx squealed excitedly. "I do love a challenge."

"Come on!" The pilot jeered. "We all know the drill. You escape and go to a planet to steal a priceless artefact while Voltron is there doing some diplomacy and you end up leading them on this huge chase until they capture you and throw you into a new prison."

"Yeah," Allalancerizx sighed dramatically. "But I think Gyrgan and Zarkon have taken quite a liking to me! Blaytz says that I make the job way more fun and Alfor and Trigel seem to be warming up to me."

"You wish." The guard scoffed. "But I guess you're right. You do make things more interesting since there isn't really any conflict left."

"Although..." The pilot hummed thoughtfully. "Zarkon has been more...snappy recently. More hostile."

"I heard that he and Alfor were arguing earlier." The guard agreed. "Something about quintessence experiments."

"Honerva hasn't been doing too well either." The pilot added. "I hear she's fallen gravely ill."

"Poor her." Allalancerizx sighed. "Poor Zarkon too. I bet he's worried sick."

"You can ask him about it when he escorts you to prison." The pilot chirped cheerfully. "We're approaching Daibazaal now. We'll refuel and continue."

"Oh goodie." Allalancerizx exclaimed sarcastically.

The Galra home planet soon came into view. It looked as beautiful as ever, except for a weird glow emanating from the planet's surface.

"What is that?" The pilot asked as he squinted at the planet. The guard and his prisoner leaned closer to the window to see.

"I'm not much of an expert," The thief said. "But that looks like it might be-"

Daibazaal suddenly exploded, sending out a shockwave that rattled the ship. Large rocks hammered the vessel, causing cracks to appear in the windows.

"The hull's about to breach!" The pilot cried fearfully. "Activate helmets!"

The occupants quickly pressed buttons on the sides of their helmets, causing glass to appear over their faces - and just in time too! The window shattered into a million pieces and the passengers quickly unbuckled their seatbelts, causing them to fly into the vacuum of space. Allalancerizx shrieked as he went spinning off into the distance. His thrusters weren't working since the fuel cells had been removed, so he couldn't balance himself or stop his stomach from twirling. He soon felt two pairs of hand grab him and pull him to a halt. He groaned as he stabilised and, after the dizzying sensation had passed, he opened his eyes to look at his guard and pilot; his saviours.

"Thanks." He moaned as he was pulled upright.

The three turned to look at Daibazaal, which was now reduced to a broken planet surrounded by debris. Allalancerizx felt the air get knocked out of his chest as tears filled his eyes. His mother, his father, his siblings...they had all been on Daibazaal visiting family! Were they all...

Maybe they had left early or had never arrived at all! They could still be alive! They had to still be alive!

"Oh quiznack!" The pilot gasped as tears streamed down his face.

"No offence," The guard exhaled shakily. "But I think Voltron may have bigger issues that you right now..."

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed this little preview! Please let me know what you think of it. I haven't come up with a title yet, but I'll think of one before I continue it. Hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. I can't say exactly when I'll next update, but rest assured that I will.**

 **Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of my wonderful readers! Until the next chapter!**

 **WarrynSparklegem**


	9. Chapter 9

**It is a dark and windy night. You stand before some rusty gates with a sign above. The words are illuminated by the bright moonlight: 'Local Cemetery'. You walk through the gates and follow a winding path up a hill towards a gravestone. You notice the ground moving as something shuffles beneath. You lean forward to get a closer look when a hand suddenly bursts through the dirt! You scream and fall back onto your but as the hand grasps at the ground! Another hand bursts forwards, followed by a head of red hair with two pointed ears sticking out. The hands claw forwards, pulling out a body from the soil. Once the torso and legs are freed, the figure clambers to their feet, stumbling unsteadily before balancing. They look at you with an unflinching stare. You stare back. Could it be possible? Could it be true? The figure reaches into their coat and pulls out a pair of sunglasses, which they place on their face. They then open their mouth to speak, and there is only one thing they can say at this moment:**

 **"I'M BACK BABY!"**

* * *

Silence fell over Lotor's cave as Coran and Keith stared at each other in disbelief. Their eyes were wide, and their mouths gaped, and even though they were already under the sea, their eyes seemed to dampen with tears. Lance looked at Keith sadly. The Mermyt looked even more miserable than when he had left the coast last morning. From what he had seen, the Altean Mermyts were a very sociable and united species. The discovery of one of your own kind being a traitor must have been similar to having a knife stabbed into your heart and then twisted cruelly.

Keith could barely breathe. They had been betrayed by one of their own kind! But who? And why? A million thoughts flew through his head. As Shiro's brother, he was also quite close to many of the Altean guards. All of them were loyal, and the civilian Mermyts loved their Princess. None of them could ever be a traitor!

Lance glanced worriedly at Keith, whose teeth were grinding together in a snarl and whose hands were clenched so tightly that his palms threatened to start bleeding. Lance then glanced over at Coran, whose eyes were now sharper and more serious than before. His fingers pinched the end of his moustache as he thought deeply.

Lotor's attention had returned to the Shield Stone between his fingers. He was once again grinning, much like an imp enjoying the outcome of a trick he had played. He stared at the Shield Stone with maniacal glee. At least someone was happy.

"Hey, Keith?" Lance called out gently, bumping the red Mermyt's arm with his. "You okay?"

"I just…" Keith murmured distantly. "I just can't believe it. How could any Altean possibly be a traitor? None of them has any reason to turn against the Princess! She has been nothing but kind and compassionate."

"I honestly don't know." Coran shrugged slightly, voice equally as distant as Keith's. "But we can focus on that later after we've liberated the Kingdom. For now, we need to focus on destroying the Witch's spell."

Coran turned to look at Lotor, who swum towards a pedestal at the end of the cave. Upon the pedestal was an old book that appeared to be bound in leather. He pulled back the cover to reveal crinkled pages with immaculate writing written in ink. For about the 86th time that day, Lance's brain just stopped and buzzed.

"Uh…" He hesitantly raised a finger. "If we're underwater, how are your pages not tearing from being wet?"

"Haha!" Lotor laughed heartily, his gaze remaining on the book as he flicked through the pages. "Humans are incredibly amusing! Perhaps I should consider obtaining one as a pet."

Lance pales as Lotor's lip pulled back to reveal a sharp, toothy grin. Keith instantly moved to cover Lance's front slightly. It was a minuscule movement, but it made Lance's heart race as he almost smiled giddily with a blush; Keith was being overprotective and it. Was. Adorable!

"But I suppose keeping a Human down here may be more trouble than it's worth." Lotor sighed sadly. "They'd need Nunvil Weed every day and I'd have to go to the shallow waters to collect that."

He then turned from his book to fix Lance with a stare and a cool smile.

"To answer your question," He explained patiently. "The pages are made of dried seaweeds that have been enchanted to reject water and retain ink. Even better, the ink comes from a giant squid, which means it won't run in water. Perfect for me to use to document my research."

"Okay…" Lance sighed calmly. "So…the stone is configured with an Altean's quintessence. Is that going to be a problem for us?"

"I shouldn't think so." Lotor scoffed, his gaze switching from the page to the stone. "Since you've brought me this stone, I can manipulate its quintessence so that it will cancel out the shield altogether."

"That's awesome!" Lance beamed widely, punching the air triumphantly.

"But..." Lotor cut in sharply with a sharp and sly grin.

"But?" Keith inquired with a scowl. Of course; Lotor wouldn't do something without some sort of payment. He never does anything for nothing. "What do you want?"

"Nothing too bad, I assure you." Lotor smiled sweetly. Too sweetly. "It's not like I want to become the new Emperor. Firstly, I will need your assistance to manipulate the stone."

"That's not so bad." Lance murmured quietly into Keith's ear.

"Secondly." Lotor continued. "I want something from Haggar when she and her Emperor have been defeated."

"What would that be?" Keith asked suspiciously.

"Now now," Lotor tsked as an adult would do to a young child. He swam closer to Keith and unfurled his body. Being larger than Keith, he found himself looking down at a furious scowl. "There's no need to be so nosy. Can you really afford such suspicion right now, when I am the only chance you have of saving your home, your Princess and your brother?"

Keith's nostrils flared as he took in a deep breath and held his gaze. Lance saw a fire ignite in his eyes; one that threatened to engulf the pompous prince before him, but he remained quiet. Even if he didn't like the guy, he had to admit that he was right,

"That's what I thought." Lotor sneered. "From what I understand, the Royal Advisor is well versed in quintessence manipulation."

"Well versed, yes," Coran confirmed. "But my ability to actually perform quintessence manipulation is very...lacking."

"Don't worry," Lotor said as he swam to his worktable. "I can manipulate quintessence easily. I just need your knowledge. You other two...just sit down somewhere. And don't touch anything!"

The last command came with a warning glare. Keith and Lance decided that it would be most wise to heed and just sit and wait.

* * *

Some time ago…

 _As a guppy, Shiro was quite slim and lanky; a stick compared to the boulder of muscle he would one day become. Even so, he was quite content with his life. He had a loving mother and father, who were both excited for the arrival of their new child, still a bump within his mother's belly. Shiro loved to hold his hands against the small bump and tell his new baby sibling about the kelp forests he had explored that day. While most of the family was happy, there was one member who was afraid._

 _As a guppy, Kuro had the same build as his older twin brother. But while Shiro was content and optimistic, Kuro found himself teased constantly. The reason for this was most cliché; Shiro was a rising star in the local athletic groups. He had already set records for his swimming speed, power, and agility. His precision with spear-throwing was praised as unparalleled and he was rarely beaten with a sword. Even at the age of seven years, Shiro already had a promising future ahead of him. Kuro, on the other hand, knew that he would never be able to exceed his brother in any of these activities._

 _Kuro was born missing an arm and a fin._

 _There had been cases of incomplete guppies being born in the past, but they were uncommon and couldn't be helped. Kuro was unable to swim as swiftly as his classmates and couldn't properly balance his body when throwing a spear. Despite everything, Shiro was always there to support his twin brother._

 _This was the cause of all Kuro's fears and insecurities. He knew that his new baby sibling would start to gain all if his brother's and parents' attention. He was afraid that he would be cast aside once the perfectly unflawed baby was born. More than anything, Shiro wouldn't bother to look after him anymore. He knew he was being selfish, but Kuro just wished that his twin brother would stay with him. Just thinking of Shiro leaving him behind brought tears to his eyes. To put it simply, Kuro would never be able to become a guard. He didn't even really have any prospects for the future since he couldn't swim far from home. Shiro would always find ways to cheer him up:_

" _Come on! I'll take you to the reef!"_

" _Don't worry. You'll always have me here."_

" _I'll never leave you Kuro. Never. I promise."_

 _It worked. Kuro felt he had a purpose in keeping his brother happy, which made him happy too. Even if he couldn't do anything to serve his Kingdom directly, he could always support his brother with whatever he needed._

 _But then their parents announced that a new guppy would arrive soon. Shiro was really excited to find out that they would be having a younger sibling. He now spent most of his time helping to prepare the new nursery or talking to the baby bump. Kuro hated his new sibling before it was even born._

* * *

Shiro stared at his brother in horror; the cruel, yellow eyes and vicious snarl looked out of place on that face which once held wide smiles and innocent eyes. He barely registered Allura's astonished gasp from behind him. He'd never told anyone about Kuro before – not even Keith knew that he had a second brother – so it was easy to understand why everyone was surprised to see an unknown Mermyt with a face identical to their Champion. It was most likely even more surprising to see any Memryt's face filled with such malice and hatred.

Haggar grinned evilly, her teeth shining against the shadowy depths of her dark skin. She couldn't help but relish in the pain and suffering that shone from Shiro's face like light from a beacon. Many described her personality as that of an engineer's: she loved creating things as much as she liked watching things be destroyed (*) and being able to break the spirits of these Mermyt's filled her with so much joy!

"It has been so long," She hissed delightedly. "Since you have seen your brother, has it not? When was the last time you saw each other?"

Shiro's eyes finally managed to tear away from his supposedly dead twin to the Witch. This couldn't be happening; it couldn't be real. Kuro was dead. And yet…

"Fifteen years, I think." Haggar continued, tapping her finger against her chin as if she were truly thinking hard for the answer. "The same day you lost your parents, I believe?"

Shiro grit his teeth hard and clenched the bars tightly in his hands. His gaze sharpened to the point where it could have killed instantaneously Haggar. That despicable woman! How could she torture him so easily? How could she be so heartless? Allura laid a gentle hand against his shoulder, soft and grounding. His hands relaxed slightly, and his mouth went slack, but his gaze could not be dulled.

"It must have been so difficult to lose your parents and your darling twin all in one day." Haggar persevered tauntingly, swimming closer to the bars. "And the worst part was probably that you were the one who caused their demises!"

The statement was a punch to the gut for Shiro. He grunted and gripped the bars tightly again, pupils dilating and breath deepening.

"Shiro?" Allura whispered worriedly, shaking his shoulder slightly.

"Everyone knows it's true." Haggar pressed on. Her eyes glowed as she spoke. A purple mist appeared before her, wafting closer to Shiro with every word. "Perhaps if you had been faster, or stronger, they would still be here. Your little brother wouldn't have had to miss out on all those days he could have spent with his parents. Kuro here wouldn't have missed out on those days he could have spent with you. But those are days that can never be retrieved."

Shiro was full-on panting and whimpering as tears streamed down his cheeks like waterfalls. The mist shrouded his face and entered his eyes, slowly filling them with purple until they were violet gems on his face. Once the mist was fully absorbed, Shiro sagged and quietened as if a switch had been flipped. His breathing went silent and his hands loosely hung from the bars.

"Shiro?" Allura exclaimed urgently, shaking his shoulder insistently. "Shiro!?"

The Princess turned to the Witch with a feral growl and piercing glare.

"What have you done to him!?" She demanded furiously.

"It occurred to the Emperor and I that we would never be able to truly overcome the Kingdom without breaking the people's spirits," Haggar revealed. She floated away from Shiro and turned to Allura. "And we knew that, if we wanted to break their spirits, we would have to break yours first."

Allura gulped silently but held her firm gaze and stance. She could not allow herself to be overcome by intimidation; she was a leader. She had to remain strong for her people.

"And," Haggar lingered, her voice close to a whisper. "How better to break the strong Princess than by breaking the spirit of her lover?"

Allura gasped and jerked back slightly. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers and her lip trembled just the slightest. It had occurred to her that Kuro had discovered many of their secret strategies and vital information, but she had heartily hoped that her relationship with Shiro still remained secret.

"Your lucky lover gets to be the first test subject for my new spell!" Haggar declared gleefully, clapping her hands in delight. "His mind is currently being tormented by every bad memory and negative thought. They will attack his very spirit to the very point where his mental and emotional pain will become physical. The attacks will only get stronger and stronger until his spiritual barriers rupture! Then his delicious quintessence will burst out of him and I will be able to absorb it all! I'm sure that feistiness of his will give me quite the power boost!"

Allura's hands held Shiro tightly as fear's grips closed around her heart. Cold rand through her bones and lead weighed down in her stomach.

"His…his quintessence?" She whispered, horrified. "You'll absorb his quintessence?"

"Yes." Haggar sighed contentedly and licked her lips, surely contemplating the exquisite meal Shiro's soul would make. "And, without his quintessence, his body will begin to decay until it becomes nothing more than a pile of dust."

Allura shook and wept. "Please…please no! Remove the spell! I'll do anything!"

"' _Anything'_?" Haggar repeated, looking thoughtful

"Yes!" Allura cried desperately. "Whatever you want!"

"Then break!" Haggar cackled. "Break Princess, even if it must be over the pitiful remains of your lover! Let your spirit shatter! Let the light leave your eyes! Let your will become weak so that I may then absorb your own quintessence and give my Emperor power over all the seas!"

"You…you want my quintessence so badly?" Allura shuddered. "Why not just take it?"

"Because…" Haggar smirked. "It's more fun to watch you break!"

Haggar then left the prison with a howling cackle. Allura wrapped her arms around Shiro in what she hoped was comfort as Kuro simply floated there watching them but not truly seeing them.

"Kuro, come!" Haggar beckoned from the hallway. Kuro obeyed like an obedient dog and tuned, following his master.

* * *

 _Kuro wasn't sure what to make of his new sibling._

 _Keith had pearly-pale skin and eyes like violet flowers. His black hair floated around his head like a hood, and he fit into his father's hand so perfectly and snuggly. It was hard to believe that he and Shiro had once been so small as well. He could remember how his mother had wanted to name him 'Yorak', but his father managed to convince her that 'Keith' suited the new guppy better._

 _Shiro welcomed their new baby brother with literal open arms. He held his brother above his head, cooing and tickling his chin. Keith giggled and waved his arms and tail about. Kuro hadn't held his baby brother yet, afraid that the baby would hate him and cry. He had already been rejected by so many of the other Mermyts; he didn't know if he could remain strong if his pure baby brother also rejected him. Shiro spent much of his time with Keith, making him laugh with silly hand gestures and telling his stories at bedtime. He didn't speak much to Kuro anymore other than a brief 'good morning' and 'good night'._

 _A week after Keith's birth, Kuro was peering into his clam crib, watching the baby sleep. He laid with his head turned to the side and a fist up near his cheek. His mouth was open slightly as he breathed quietly. His chest raised up and down in small movements beneath the blanket. Kuro slowly reached his hand in to stroke Keith's smooth cheek, but quickly removed it when the baby shifted slightly._

" _Kuro?"_

 _Kuro jumped and spun around to see Shiro peeking in through the doorway._

" _I-I was just…" Kuro stammered nervously. Would he get into trouble for watching the baby? Would Shiro be angry at him?_

" _He's cute, isn't he?" Shiro smiled, swimming over to investigate the rib as well. He stretched his hand in and tenderly caressed Keith's hair without hesitation. Keith's head moved from side to side, savouring the feeling of his brother's hand against his head. "He really enjoys being stroked, doesn't he?"_

 _Kuro faltered at Shiro's question and instead sighed sadly. Shiro's toothy grin fell as he noticed his twin's anguish. "What's wrong?"_

" _I haven't touched him yet." Kuro said softly. "I'm scared that he'll hate me."_

" _Keith won't hate you!" Shiro exclaimed confidently. "He'll love you just as much as I do!"_

 _Kuro didn't feel very convinced, but his twin gave him no time to reply. Shiro seized Kuro's arm and forced it into the crib towards Keith._

" _Go on!" Shiro encouraged his brother. "Give him a stroke!"_

 _Kuro hesitated, but Shiro watched him with such expectancy that he knew he wouldn't be able to retract his hand without upsetting him. Kuro inhaled and exhaled deeply, bracing himself as he inched his hand towards Keith's cheek again. He flinched as his finger encountered baby-smooth skin, but Keith gave no reaction. Kuro stroked his finger along the cheek, eliciting what sounded like a sigh from the baby. Keith's hand moved marginally, but no reaction was given to indicate that he was feeling uncomfortable in any way. The muscles in Kuro's hunched shoulders sluggishly loosened and the fear drained from his face to be replaced with wonder. His stroking became much more insistent as he picked up the pace._

" _See?" Shiro said. "He likes your touch."_

 _Kuro let out a breathy laugh but jumped when Keith yawned widely. The baby's eyes fluttered open, looking glassy as they were focused on nothing and wandered around the ceiling. The pupils immediately cleared and sharpened when the eyes landed on Kuro's face. The younger twin held his breath, worrying that the baby was going to burst out into terrified wails. Instead, he was surprised when Keith smiled and babbled, reaching out his hands and making grabbing motions._

" _He likes you too." Shiro laughed happily. "I think he wants you to hold him."_

" _Oh…" Kuro breathed nervously. He considered backing away, but Keith looked at him with such pure joy that his heart filled with happiness and he found that he could not refuse. "Okay then."_

 _It was difficult to pick up Keith with only one hand, so Shiro helped to position the baby so that he rested comfortably in Kuro's arm. Once well-situated, Keith raised his hands up to Kuro's face and patted his chin, giggling. Kuro found himself giggling too. He'd been so silly! He'd been afraid that Keith would hate him, but now he saw that Keith loved him just as much as Shiro and his parents did. He vowed that he would do everything he could to ensure that Keith would always be safe and never unhappy._

* * *

 _Three years later, Keith's tail was now strong enough for him to swim longer distances – probably about twenty miles before becoming exhausted. Shiro and Kuro were now active ten-year-olds; Shiro was still top of his classes, but Kuro had begun to climb the ranks. With the help provided by his twin and the inspiration provided by his baby brother, Kuro had been training hard to strengthen his tail so that he could move as quickly and agile as his classmates so that he could also swim with Keith one day too. He could now hold his own with a sword and could at least hit a moving target with a spear – not a bullseye, but a hit is a hit. He knew that he would never be able to surpass Shiro, but he was content with the progress he had made._

 _And now, here he was. On Keith's third birthday, all five family members decided to take Keith for a swim to the reefs and let him take a first look at the surface. Kuro and Shiro could hardly contain their excitement! They wanted to show Keith as much as they could before he got too tired._

" _Look at this one!" Shiro or Kuro would exclaim and point at a reef that was particularly colourful or interestingly shaped. Keith would 'ooh' and 'aah' and occasionally say "So cool!" at every spectacle with wide, gleaming eyes. Their parents chuckled at how enthusiastic their three sons were. It was comforting to know that they would always have each other._

 _When Keith's swimming speed had noticeably decreased, their parents decided it was time to see the surface before heading back home. Shiro and Kuro both grabbed one of Keith's hands and excitedly lead him towards the top of the ocean._

" _What's the surface wike?" He asked._

" _It's really cool!" Kuro replied. "There's this thing called the 'sky' and it changed colour!"_

" _And," Shiro added. "It can either have one really large light in it or billions of little ones!"_

" _Wow!" Keith gasped at how beautiful the surface sounded. "Do other Mermyts live there?"_

" _No," Shiro responded. "But there are these creatures called 'humans'. Instead of tails, they have these weird stick things called 'legs' and their ears are small and round."_

" _They also only breathe above water." Kuro continued. "They can't breathe underwater, but apparently, they need to drink it to survive. I don't really get how that is different, but humans are just weird in general."_

" _And dangerous." Their mother called from behind them. "Humans can be incredibly deadly. If they see us, they could try to take us from the water and trap us somewhere on the land."_

" _R-really?" Keith asked as tears collected in his eyes. These humans sounded frightening!_

" _That's why it's important that we aren't seen." Their father proceeded. "If we ever want to go to the surface, it's safer to come up where there are no boats, or near the cliffs where it's too dangerous for the humans to tread."_

 _He pointed ahead to a cliff face that they had been approaching. The light was brighter now and there was a pleasant warmth. Their father raced ahead and poked his head out of the water first, looking around. After a few seconds. He waved a hand and beckoned his family up. Shiro and Kuro broke the surface with small gasps as they switched from breathing water to breathing cold air. They pulled Keith up beside them and held him up to allow him to rest his tail. When Keith pulled his head up, he coughed loudly; the transition from water to air was shocking at first and took some getting used to. Once his lungs had adjusted, he stopped coughing and opened his eyes. He exclaimed in awe as his eyes fell upon the sky. On this day, the Sun shone brightly surrounded by faint wisps of white. In the far distance, the light reflected off some shimmering buildings from where a culmination of faint noises could be heard._

" _It's so pretty!" Keith proclaimed with a smile. "And we can come here whenever we want?"_

" _As long as no humans are around," Kuro added clearly. "Otherwise we can come up as often as we want. We could even come up one night and see the stars!"_

" _Can we do that now?" Keith asked eagerly._

" _There's still quite a while until night-time," Their father laughed heartily. "And you're too tired to stay out for much longer."_

" _We can come back another time." Their mother assured them. "And we can point out the different stars together."_

" _Promise?" Keith hopefully queried._

" _Promise." Their parents replied simultaneously as their mother placed a kiss on Keith's forehead._

 _But there would be no other time._

 _At that moment, when everything should have been perfect, there came a rumbling sound. It started off small and silent but quickly became stronger. The waves which were once still raised and violently vibrated._

" _What's happening?" Keith cried out, afraid and confused._

 _Before an answer could be given, a deafening crack echoed from above them. It would be a sound that would haunt Shiro for the rest of his days. The five Memryts looked up to see huge boulders falling from the top of the cliff. Immediately, Shiro and Kuro dived with Keith and swam as fast as their tails could push them. Smaller rocks bombarded them, eliciting yelps from them, but they persevered. Once at a safe distance, Kuro turned around, expecting to see his parents, but saw no one._

" _Mother?" He called out worriedly. "Father?"_

 _Keith and Shiro also turned around and scanned the water for their parents only to be met with rapidly sinking rocks._

" _Mama? Papa?" Keith wailed, surging forwards so quickly that he slipped out of his brothers' grips._

" _Keith!" Shiro and Kuro exclaimed, following him instantly._

 _Keith darted forwards like a bullet into the herd of falling boulders. Many skimmed past him as he zipped from side to side, insistently calling out for his parents. Tears streamed from his eyes as he searched earnestly for his parents. He was stopped when a firm hand grabbed his arm. A quick glance behind showed that Kuro had caught him with Shiro just behind._

" _We have to get out of here!" Shiro insisted._

 _Again, there was no time for a reply as a large boulder hit Kuro and Keith so quickly that they disappeared in the blink of an eye! The two brothers grunted as they were hit by an intense force. Kuro felt the rock digging into his back and blinked the fuzziness from his eyes. Definitely a concussion. A quick glance a Keith revealed that he'd been knocked unconscious by the impact. Kuro tried to pull them from beneath the projectile, but the rock was moving too fast for him to pull himself out!_

" _Keith! Kuro!"_

 _Kuro couldn't see, but he knew that Shiro was swimming to them as fast as he could. Shiro reached out both hands towards where he could see two sets of unruly black hair. He would have to be quick; he needed to grab them both and pull them out before they were lost to the depths forever! It all happened so fast; when he was close enough, Shiro closed his hands and pulled. He had no time to stop; he had to pull them out and lead them out of the chaos before they were pinned by another rock. His mind was blank the entire time, save for one thought: 'Save them.' Shiro closed his hands, then pulled back and focussed all his concentration on avoiding the sinking rocks. He darted left and right, zooming over and under until he reached a blue void of open water. He panted as the adrenaline ebbed away. Once his mind was functioning again, he registered coldly that only one of his hands was occupied. He looked in fear and horror to see that only one of his brothers was behind him. Keith's locks were tangled in his fingers, his face clenched in pain as a stream of red floated from a gash on his forehead._

 _Shiro felt a moment of blessed relief, thanking all the Gods that he'd managed to save Keith, his darling baby brother, who'd only turned three that day. But, as the grief quickly returned, he registered that Kuro had been lost. His beloved twin had just slipped through his fingers. He hadn't been fast enough to grab him. He hadn't been strong enough to hold him. He hadn't been good enough to save him._

 _Everyone who knew Shiro would say that he never cried. He was too strong mentally and physically to ever let his spirit become so broken, but on that day, when his parents and twin had been lost to the depths, Shiro held his baby brother's limp body in his arms and clasped him close to his chest. On that day, Shiro wailed in grief as tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes. One could say that every tear he had was used up on that day – his darkest day._

* * *

Lance was dreaming of his Mama's mouth-watering garlic knots when he felt something tickling his nose.

"'Necker." He grumbled, wrinkling his nose again and wafting a hand to fend off the cat's tail. As the tickling continued, he opened his eyes and sat up so that he could remove the irritating feline from his bed.

"Dammit Kalternecker-" Lance growled but faltered when he finally registered where he was.

' _Oh yeah.'_ He reflected. _'I'm currently under the sea in some Ursula-wanna-be's man-cave on a mission to save the Mermyt Kingdom from some tyrannical crab and I was told to sit in the corner while a swimming Maybelline advert and living Pringles man change some stone's magical coding.'_

Lance rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching his arms out pleasantly. He felt a tickling on his neck and turned to see Keith laid sleeping on his shoulder. Lance slapped a hand to his mouth to hold in a startled scream in fear that Keith would also wake up startled and punch him in the face. After calming down, Lance leaned in closer to observe the raven resting on his arm. Lance had never stayed with Keith while he'd slept, so it was strange to see the red Mermyt so relaxed. His furrowed brows were slack and his scowl was non-existent. He looked so peaceful…so beautiful…

Before he knew it, Lance was reaching out a hand to stroke Keith's cheek, but he quickly retreated when the other teen shifted and mumbled. Keith blearily opened his eyes and yawned, revealing a set dangerously sharp fangs. After blinking the tiredness from his eyes, he looked up at the human beside him.

"Lance?" Keith murmured sleepily.

"The one and only." Lance shot back with a grin and gun finger.

After another blink, Keith's scowl fell back into place. He sat up and stretched out his tail with a satisfied moan.

"How long was I asleep for?" He asked.

"Uh…" Lance blanched. He'd been asleep too. He had no idea how much time had passed. "Not too long, I think."

Keith looked at the end of the room where Coran and Lotor were still hunched with their backs to them.

"How much longer is this going to take?" He huffed impatiently.

"I guess quintessence is a tricky thing to manipulate." Lance shrugged in reply. "You can't rush perfection Mullet. If we want to be successful, we have to be patient."

"Great. Now you sound like my brother." Keith sighed again in frustration.

"Good." Lance smiled cheekily. "That means at least one of us has a stable head on their shoulders."

"Stable. Sure." Keith said doubtfully with a playful roll of his eyes. "I'm not sure finger guns are a sign of a stable mind."

"Hey!" Lance yelped in offence. "My finger guns have worked many wonders!"

"'Wonder' seems to be a very strong word to use when describing your flirts." Keith teased as he softly elbowed the human.

"Ouch!" Lance groaned, holding a hand to his heart. "Keith! Must you be so heartless?"

Keith merely chuckled in reply, his gaze lifting back to Coran and Lotor.

"It's weird." He said thoughtfully.

"What?" Lance questioned curiously.

"Just a few hours ago, everything was so different." Keith replied in contemplation. "I was going back home with Shiro and you were back on the surface with your family. Now we're in the darkest depths of the ocean with the son of an exiled tyrant fighting for my home. It's just weird how so much can happen in so little time."

"Yeah." Lance agreed with a chuckle. "Just a few hours ago, I never thought that I would be having some crazy adventure beneath the sea, but here we are! And to think we had just said goodbye to each other!"

"I thought it would be weeks before I got to see you again." Keith admitted. "I'm glad I got to see you sooner. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Why?" Lance asked teasingly. "Did you miss me?"

Keith ducked his head at Lance's questioned and found his hands to suddenly be far more interesting.

"Uh…Keith?" Lance poked the Mermyt.

"I..may have missed you a little." Keith confessed as a light blush blossomed in his cheeks.

Lance felt heat flare in his own cheeks. He understood that Keith had missed him – they'd grown so close after all – but seeing Keith blush so adorably made his heart skip a beat.

"R-really?" He stammered but quickly regained his confident composure. "What about me did you miss the most?"

Keith thought it was impossible for his face to be any redder; he was proven wrong. He couldn't say that he missed Lance's gleaming smile or entrancing eyes or firm muscles! That was way too embarrassing to admit!

"W-well," Keith began to fumble for an answer.

"We've done it!" Coran announced loudly at that moment, saving Keith from his awkward conversation.

"Really?" He blurted out as he bolted towards the Royal Advisor.

"Yes," Lotor said in a deep and smooth voice. "The properties of the stone have been altered; now it will cause Haggar's shield to completely collapse once put back in its proper place.

"Awesome!" Lance exclaimed excitedly as he swam to them. "So now we just have to get back to the Kingdom?"

"Indeed!" Coran confirmed.

"But what do we do when the shield goes down?" Keith asked. "We can't take on the Galra by ourselves!"

"Our first objective should be to free the Princess and the Royal Guards from the prison." Coran decided. "With them by our side, we should be able to drive out the Galra and defeat Zarkon and Haggar!"

"Cool!" Lance fist-pumped excitedly. "Let's go beat up some bad guys!"

* * *

 **Hey!**

 **...**

 **So I know it's been a while (like a whole year) but I'm back now! Sorry for the hiatus. After A-Levels, we moved house and then I started Uni and I'm out from 8 til 6 most days. But now I'm on Christmas break and intend to do as much writing as possible before I my January exams. I also found myself being distracted when a certain song came into my head:**

 **QUESTION QUESTION: boku wa**

 **QUESION QUESTION: ittai**

 **QUESTION QUESTION: kimi no**

 **Nani o shitteita no?**

 **QUESTION QUESTION: doushite**

 **QUESTION QUESTION: kimi wa**

 **QUESTION QUESTION: konna ni**

 **Chikakute tooi no darouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu?**

 **ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM IS MY FAVOURITE ANIME! Well...it's tied with Fairy Tail and Rising of the Shield Hero...and Black Butler...and Blue Exorcist...BUT IT'S STILL AMAZING! Kuro-Sensei is one of my favourite anime characters ever!**

 **Anyway, we're finally getting to the counter attack, and there's some backstory for Shiro and Kuro here. There's also some more Klance fluff! Our boys are so adorable. Next chapter is the prison break! I'll try my best to get it out within the next month, but I doubt before the New Year. Even so, thank you all very much for your patience. I hope this chapter makes up for my year of absence (I'm so sorry!) and I'll see you all next time, my wonderful readers!**

 **WarrynSparklegem**


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